Idris Derby, the president of Chad, on May 11, Monday, visited Nigeria’s President-elect Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

The two leaders met behind closed doors days before the power handover in Nigeria scheduled for May 29. According to The Nation, they discussed the strategies to end Boko Haram and came to a consensus on the issue.

After the encounter held at the Defence Headquarters, Derby told journalists that Chad and Nigeria were facing the same challenges and agreed to work together to achieve peace in the region affected by  insurgency.

“Nigeria and Chad are two countries with one people. We have many things in common, a long tradition and a long history together. The visit here is to meet with the President- elect and to enhance the bilateral relations aimed at meeting the common challenges.”

Buhari further disclosed:

“We know how Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been helping Nigeria to secure our border and you how this helps in commerce and industry. Due to the insurgency attacks, some of the bridges were blown up while infrastructures were destroyed. These were some of things that we discussed and God’s willing we will sit down and make sure we have a comprehensive review of the security situation in the northeast and how it affects the country.”

Earlier today Derby also met with President Goodluck Jonathan. The event was associated with a minor media scandal when Ubale Musa, the State House correspondent of Deutsche Welle, asked the Chadian leader an “embarrassing question”. Following which his accreditation was withdrawn.

Musa, a veteran reporter, inquired about the relationship between the multi-national joint task force and mercenaries allegedly fighting with the Nigerian troops, Vanguard provides. Derby denied knowledge of the existence of any mercenary in the northeast, however, this questions was considered humiliating enough for Jonathan’s aides to show him way out of the venue.

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