High alert on Nigeria-Cameroon border

Around 300 soldiers from Cameroon’s elite army unit, the Rapid Intervention Battalion, are guarding the border in the extreme north in their fight against the ongoing Boko Haram violence.

One security force who requested anonymity said their main priority was to prevent the installation of a base of the Islamist sect in Cameroon.

He added: "Before, Boko Haram seeped into our country because it was a fall-back position when the sect members were prosecuted in Nigeria. But today, they are wary because they know it would not be good for them to be on two fronts (against the Nigerian and Cameroonian forces)."

On the night of June 23 to 24, eight members of the Islamic sect were killed by the forces of the Rapid Intervention Batallion (BIR), and 48 other jihadists were arrested. A few days before, they succeeded in killing 118 members of the sect during fierce fighting in the far north of Cameroon.

Action against the jihadists is becoming more frequent and organized. But it is still difficult for the BIR to monitor the nebula, since it has the "right to sue" on the Nigerian territory. In addition, Boko Haram would benefit from assistance from Nigeria.

Boko Haram and their accomplices

One Cameroonian security source said the observation strategy of Boko Haram and its actions strongly suggest there is a lot of collusion between the sect and political and military figures in Nigeria.

“The supply of weapons to Islamists and the low response of the Nigerian army in front of some attacks cast doubt,” he added.

The source explained that from surveillance, allied forces (American) attended an attack on a base by Boko Haram. The major Nigerian state was immediately notified but did not respond.

Through their contacts and their accomplices, the Islamists have the means of supplying arms via military aircraft and would wear the uniform of the Nigerian army.

A strategy which explains in part the success of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria.

Faced with these questionable methods, "some Cameroonian policies have sympathy for these Nigerian methods," suspects the same source.

"Complicity", this is also evoked by the journalist from Cameroon, Louis Keumayou, in an article published on the website of TV5MONDE.

Indeed, in view of the presidential election of 2015, some politicians and north military attempt to get closer to the sect (which controls much of the north of the country) to take power in this region.

Hostage releases?

BIR is trained to fight against terrorism, which involves preparing the hostage taking and kidnappings. In early June, two Italian priests and a Canadian nun kidnapped two months earlier in northern Cameroon were released and escorted by the BIR to Yaoundé.

"My nose tells me that there will be another attempt to release very soon. Among the Chinese kidnapped in Waza Park in mid-May, some are dead. Strategically, the stiffs serve them anything. They will probably try to exchange the Chinese by force of arms," predicts Cameroon source.

In Cameroon, the main activities of Boko Haram are armed robbery, kidnapping, trafficking in arms and drugs or poaching.

After the abduction of 200 schoolgirls (who are still without news) on April 14, the latest current events are bloody: the jihadists have attacked centers watching World Cup matches in churches leaving dozens dead in a few days.

Faced with this jihadist threat, Cameroon has long been accused of not reacting.

During a summit on security in Nigeria to Paris, May 17, the Cameroonian President Paul Biya had then decided to engage militarily in the fight against terrorism, eventually including 3,000 soldiers of the special unit of the BIR.