UNITED Nations special tepresentative and head of its West African office Mohamed Ibn Chambas has expressed surprise at the inability of the much revered Nigerian military to combat the terrorist sect Boko Haram 

Since 2009, Boko Haram has been waging an insurgency against Nigeria and last year, enjoyed significant success, chasing Nigerian troops out of numerous towns and villages. Taking control of 14 local governments in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, Boko Haram became such a threat that Nigeria needed to ask for help from her neighbours.

Over recent weeks, Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic have all agreed to contribute troops to a 7,500-strong Multi National Joint Task Force. Over the last fortnight, Chadian troops in particular, have been very effective in doing what the Nigerian government could not, expelling Boko Haram from two main towns in Borno State.

During a visit to Abuja yesterday, Mr Chambas, the United Nations' secretary-general's special envoy for the region, said Nigeria’s military must strengthen its resolve in the fight against Boko Haram. He expressed surprise at how Nigeria so well respected for its international peacekeeping role has been unable to deal with the Boko Haram menace.

Mr Chambas said: “They have to demonstrate greater resolve than has been the case so far in this fight against a serious enemy, Boko Haram. I think that we all expect more from the Nigerian military, as we have seen it in other theatres where they have performed credibly.

 “They have been contributing to peacekeeping around the world for years and demonstrated robustness. We want to see that same robustness in the fight against Boko Haram.”

Among other things, Mr Chambas held talks with President Goodluck Jonathan and former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari, who are running in the March 28 presaidential elections. He said the elections were a bit of a distraction adding that he hopes Nigeria and its army will rally after the vote to defeat Boko Haram.