France to host summit on security in Nigeria

Paris, May 15 (IANS) France will host a summit with Nigeria and its African neighbours on security after Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in April, said the presidency office in a statement Wednesday.

French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to head "Paris summit for security in Nigeria" May 17. It will focus on ways to crack down insurgents of Islamist militant group Boko Haram after the abduction of the schoolgirls triggered global outrage and raised calls for close security cooperation to fight terror cells in the region, Xinhua reported.

The Elysee Palace communique added that leaders of Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger will attend the Paris meeting, in addition to representatives of the US, the European Union and Britain.

According to the foreign ministry spokesperson Romain Nadal, the security summit's "objective is to help Nigeria and the neighbour states to fight against terrorist groups".

"An effective fight against terrorism can only be via reinforced regional and international cooperation and by sharing information and means of border control... The states in the region want to better coordinate with us and benefit from France and other countries' logistical and technical support," a government official said.