Cameroon Host Counter-Terrorism Forum in Yaounde

Counter-terrorism experts from some African countries and their counterparts from the West gathered in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital in an attempt to formulate strategy for governance and security in Africa aimed at combating the Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram. Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o who moonlights as Cameroon’s minister for defense told local media that the forum is exploring inter alia terrorism, international crime and global security. Minister Mebe Ngo'o also noted that the meeting "amounts to a crucial, determining and decisive step in the war that the international community has decided to intensify against Boko Haram."

The development comes as the Nigerian Islamic sect raided the Cameroonian city of Fotokol during prayer hours and slaughtered approximately 400 people. For the first time ever since President Biya declared a war against Boko Haram, Cameroon’s government spokesman and Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary held a press briefing and failed to provide an official balance sheet of the Boko Haram onslaught on Fotokol. Nigeria's military has also been heavily criticized over its failure to rein in the Boko Haram terrorists, who have escalated their terror campaign in the country’s northeast in the run-up to its February 14 general elections..