The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is a combined multinational formation, comprising units, mostly military, from

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. It is headquartered in

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

and is mandated to bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency.

History

The task force was first organised as a solely Nigerian force in 1994, during the administration of

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...

, to "checkmate banditry activities and to facilitate free movement" along its northern border. In 1998 it was expanded to include units from neighbouring Chad and Niger with the purpose of dealing with common cross-border security issues in the

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

region, with its headquarters in the town of Baga, Borno State. Islamist groups grew and expanded their operations during the 2000s and early 2010s. Boko Haram's insurgency began in 2009, and security forces across the region were increasingly directly challenged by

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

militant groups.

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

and Ansaru were the most active and well known. In April 2012, the MNJTF's mandate was expanded to encompass

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

operations. Brig. Gen. Enitan Ransome-Kuti, son of Beko Ransome-Kuti and nephew of the musician

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

was a previous commander of the force.

Development

In January 2015 the MNJTF headquarters in Baga, Nigeria, was overrun by militants of Boko Haram, who then proceeded to massacre local residents and destroy the town, displacing many citizens. At the time, only Nigerian soldiers were present in the HQ. There were reports that they fled the attackers. It was an ignominious moment for the MNJTF, and indeed the contributing nations. The political process of expanding the MNJTF was given new strength and energy which led to swifter progress, including the expansion of troop numbers and mandate, and relocation of the HQ to N'Djamena, Chad. The most significant structural changes for the MNJTF that emerged from the meetings in 2015 were a rise in numbers, the creation of a new Concept of Operations under the supervision of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, and the move of the HQ to N'Djamena. It was agreed that a Nigerian officer would be the Force Commander for the duration of the mission against ''Boko Haram'', with a Cameroonian as Deputy Commander and Chadian Chief of Staff. Major-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Nigerian) was appointed first Commander of the rejuvenated MNJTF in May 2015. However, his command was short lived as in July 2015 he was appointed Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff and handed command to Major-General Iliya Abbah (Nigerian) on 31 July 2015. Nigerian Major-General Lamidi Adeosun, was appointed MNJTF Commander in January 2016. Adeosun was in turn replaced as commander by Major-General Lucky Irabor in May 2017. In August 2018, Irabor was replaced by Major-General C.O. Ude. Maj Gen I.M.Yusuf took over from Ude, while Maj Gen J.J Ogunlade took over from Yusuf who handed over to Maj Gen Abdul Khalifah Ibrahim in August 2021. Thereafter, Maj Gen Gold Chibuisi took over command in 19 April 2023. The current Force Commander is Maj Gen Ibrahim Sallau Ali who took over on 14 July 2023 as the tenth Force Commander. The Force is structured in four national sectors: Sector 1 (Cameroon) headquartered at Mora; Sector 2 (Chad) headquartered at Baga-Sola; Sector 3 (Nigeria) based in Monguno; and Sector 4 (Niger), based in the town of Diffa. There is still considerable skepticism in the international community that the new force can deliver results, and its success or otherwise as a multinational endeavour will be closely monitored. Discontent has been voiced within coalition by Chadian president Idris Deby for shouldering disproportionate burden of fighting armed groups and announced confining its military operations to its boundaries. On 30 March 2025, Niger announced its withdrawal from the Force.

References

{{reflist * Boko Haram insurgency Counterterrorism in Nigeria Multinational army units and formations Military units and formations established in 1994 1990s establishments in Chad Military of Benin Military of Cameroon Military of Chad Military of Niger Military units and formations of Nigeria Benin–Cameroon relations Benin–Chad relations Benin–Niger relations Benin–Nigeria relations Cameroon–Chad relations Cameroon–Niger relations Cameroon–Nigeria relations Chad–Niger relations Chad–Nigeria relations Niger–Nigeria relations

History

Development

See also

References