--- description: Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari took a hard line Wednesday on Islamist militant group Boko Haram title: Nigeria Pledges Renewed Fight Against Boko Haram image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0a8df57d601f9e/698852ed8e06017c33460cb6/rtr4yonj.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Nigeria](/tag/nigeria/) ## Nigeria Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New Nigerian President Buhari Pledges Renewed Fight Against Boko Haram by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2015 4:44 AM CUT  Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou (far right) and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (right) observe a horse wearing a ceremonial outfit in Niamey, Niger, June 3, 2015 Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou (far right) and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (right) observe a horse wearing a ceremonial outfit in Niamey, Niger, June 3, 2015Tagaza Djibo—Reuters by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2015 4:44 AM CUT Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari [took a hard line Wednesday](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/03/us-nigeria-violence-niger-idUSKBN0OJ27820150603 "undefined") against Islamist militant group Boko Haram during his first visit trip overseas since winning elections in March. “I renew my commitment to track Boko Haram into a corner, to destroy it. Five years of the presence of this evil sect is enough,” the 72-year-old told reporters in Niamey, Niger, accompanied by his opposite number, President Mahamadou Issoufou. Buhari said he also planned to visit neighboring Chad on Thursday, Reuters reports. Niger has recently stepped up efforts to help its neighbor combat Boko Haram in the northeast part of the country, but Buhari indicated that arrangement would end soon. “I think in the next four weeks we will be able to replace them with Nigerian forces so they can return to their country,” he said. He also credited Niger for accepting refugees — as many as 150,000 — who have fled the fighting in Nigeria to Niger. Nigeria and neighbors Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin will also launch a new multinational effort to fight the insurgency around Lake Chad using a force of 8,700 troops, Issoufou announced at a separate event Tuesday. The neighboring nations will provide additional weapons to Nigeria and will help rebuild infrastructure damaged by recent fighting. Founded in 2002, Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden,” launched a vicious insurgency in 2009 but only garnered global attention after the abduction of more than 250 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in April 2014. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/03/us-nigeria-violence-niger-idUSKBN0OJ27820150603 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3908486/nigeria-niger-boko-haram-muhammadu-buhari/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3908486/nigeria-niger-boko-haram-muhammadu-buhari/"},"headline":"New Nigerian President Buhari Pledges Renewed Fight Against Boko Haram","datePublished":"2015-06-04T04:44:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:29:06.144Z","description":"The Jihadist group pledged allegiance to ISIS earlier this year","url":"https://time.com/3908486/nigeria-niger-boko-haram-muhammadu-buhari/","keywords":["Nigeria","Islamist","Chad","Niger","Boko Haram","Cameroon","extremism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0a8df57d601f9e/698852ed8e06017c33460cb6/rtr4yonj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0a8df57d601f9e/698852ed8e06017c33460cb6/rtr4yonj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari observe a horse wearing a ceremonial outfit in Niamey","caption":"Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari observe a horse wearing a ceremonial outfit in Niamey","creditText":"Tagaza Djibo—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nigeria/","name":"Nigeria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3908486/nigeria-niger-boko-haram-muhammadu-buhari/","name":"New Nigerian President Buhari Pledges Renewed Fight Against Boko Haram"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Who Is The Leader Of Boko Haram?","description":"Who Is The Leader Of Boko Haram?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/D9jtIA2G/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-08T14:49:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D9jtIA2G.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3908486/nigeria-niger-boko-haram-muhammadu-buhari/","duration":"PT2M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3908486/nigeria-niger-boko-haram-muhammadu-buhari/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```