Insurgency: Buhari hails Chad for security back-up

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the Republic of Chad for what he calls the efficient “security back-up” given to Nigeria to fight against insurgency.

The President declared, on Friday, at State House, Abuja, while welcoming in audience, Mr Ahmat Oumar Ahmat, a Special Envoy of President Idriss Déby Itno.

Buhari disclosed that the need for security alliance with our neighbours was the reason his first trips on assuming office in 2015 were to Nigeria’s immediate neighbours.

“I went round because we needed to work together. The people are the same, cultures are similar, so it was important that we also worked together on security,” the President disclosed.

President Buhari wished Republic of Chad best of luck in general elections coming up in April.

The Special Envoy stated that he bore a solidarity message from President Itno on the security state in Nigeria, also reinforcement for Nigerian troops, who were working hard to end insurgency in the northern part of the nation.

Marshal Idriss Déby Itno was born 18 June, 1952. He is a Chadian politician who has been the President of Chad since 1990. He has been re-elected with a majority of votes every five years.

President Idriss Déby Itno

He is also head of the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement. He is a graduate of Muammar Gaddafi’s World Revolutionary Center.

Itno is of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He took power at the head of a rebellion against President Hissène Habré in December 1990 and has since survived various rebellions and coup attempts against his own rule.

He won elections in 1996 and 2001, and after term limits were eliminated he won again in 2006, 2011, and 2016. He added “Itno” to his surname in January 2006. His multi-decade rule has been described as authoritarian by several international media sources.

Itno is a Muslim and has been married several times and has at least a dozen children.