11th May, 2014
French President Francois Hollande called Sunday for African leaders to hold a summit in Paris on security in west Africa focusing on the Islamist sect Boko Haram who have abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria.
“I suggested, with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, a meeting of Nigeria’s neighbouring countries,” he said during a visit to the Azerbaijan capital Baku.
The meeting will take place Saturday “if the countries agree,” he added.
The leaders of at least five African countries – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin may take part, a source close to the president said.
The kidnap of 276 schoolgirls on April 14 by Boko Haram in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok has sparked a wave of international outrage.
A team of French experts in “human and technical” intelligence arrived in Nigeria on Saturday to help in the search for the teenagers.