African leaders and representatives from the US and Britain attended a security summit in Paris on Saturday to elaborate a global strategy to combat Boko Haram. The religious sect kidnapped nearly 300 school girls in Nigeria last month, provoking international outrage.
The request for Saturday's summit came from the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, but it's Paris that's been left in charge of hosting it.
French President François Hollande thus welcomed leaders from Benin, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, to discuss how to stop Boko Haram's terror campaign, which has extended to the whole of the Sahel region.
Last month, the islamist group provoked world wide condemnation after it kidnapped more than 200 school girls from Chibok in the north east of Nigeria.
The leader of the hardline Islamist group Abubaker Shekau issued a video last week claiming responsibility for the abduction.
The failure of Nigerian authorities to rescue the school girls has forced other countries like the US and Britian to join in the search. Representatives from the two countries also attended Saturday's summit.
The French Defence ministry estimates that more than 1000 people have been killed by Boko Haram between January and March alone.
So far, France has ruled out putting boots on the ground, but says it expects a regional plan to take shape during the summit aimed at countering the islamist group.
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PrevoiusPHOTOS: MTV BASE & THE MTV AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS KWAZULU-NATAL “ROAD TO MAMA” AS IT HAPPENED AT BILICANAS Luckily for us, our very own DIAMOND is among the nominees of the 2014 MTV AFRICAN MUSIC AWARDS (MAMA) which are taking place in South Africa for the first time at the ICC, Durban on 7th June 2014. We got a foretaste of the artists who will be performing at the awards when SAUTI SOL, MI CASA and DIAMOND took to the stage at Club Bilicanas last night-16th May 2014 to wow the crowd. Prior to their spectacular performances, all media personel had an opportunity to interview them during a press conference. Mr. Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks Africa spoke of the awards and thereafter we got to hear a few words from Sauti Sol, Diamond, DJ Tira and Mi casa. Fans are encouraged to vote for their favourite artists. Voting for the MTV Africa Music Awards is open at www.mtvbase.com from 16th April 20014 until midnight on 4th June 2014. VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! Vanessa Mdee hosting the event Alex Okosi DJ Tira, Mi Casa, Vanessa Mdee Diamond Sauti Sol After media interviews, it was time for performances. Here are images.Terrific
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