Nigeria seals state border with Cameroon

Nigeria has closed its northern border with Cameroon to block the movement of Boko Haram members who use the area as a launch-pad for attacks.

In a statement released on Sunday the Nigerian military claimed fighters have set up bases in sparsely populated areas of its northeastern neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger; and use them to flee across the border after staging attacks to avoid military pursuit.

The border closure extends from the northern Borno state, by Lake Chad, to the southern end of Adamawa state, one of three states in the northeast placed under emergency rule in May following waves of attacks by Boko Haram fighters.

The closure comes as suspected Boko Haram fighters stormed the mostly Christian village of Izghe in Borno state on Saturday, north of Adamawa, killing more than 100 people.

“What I did was completely seal off the borders, no going in, no going out,” Brigadier General Rogers Iben Nicholas, the top military commander in Adamawa told the AFP news agency.

He said the measures had been in place since Monday and had already curtailed “the influx of terrorist elements” into Nigeria.

The state of Adamawa is thought to provide key transport routes for fighters.

Source

Al Jazeera