Boko Haram fighters 'surrender'

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari says Boko Haram fighters are surrendering “en masse” in Chad.

Speaking at a regional summit on peace and security in Dakar the Nigerian president said both Nigerian and Chadian members of Boko Haram were surrendering in Chad following an offensive launched by a multinational force.

Last September, the Nigerian army said it had seized the weapons of about 135 Boko Haram fighters after an air raid in a small town not far from the border with Cameroon.

Boko Haram launched its insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria in 2009, but has stepped up operations in Chad and other neighbouring states in recent years.

Muhammadu Buhari said the end of the militant group was “in sight”, with the militants holding no territory in any of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.