... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, warning that the group has been maimed but not defeated.
"If we still have to fight and catch (Boko Haram leader) Abubakar Shekau, the armies have to work together," Deby said on a visit to Nigeria's capital Abuja on Monday to meet outgoing President
Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
.
"Boko Haram has been broken but isn't finished," he told news hounds. "Our weak point is we haven't been able to coordinate operations on the ground."
Nigeria's army has been assisted by the militaries in Chad, Niger and Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
since early February, which has led to a series of successes against the snuffies in the restive region.
Nigeria-based Boko Haram has led a six-year Islamist insurgency that has killed some 15,000 people and displaced about 1.5 million.
Towns and territory captured by the Islamists have been retaken and a major offensive has been under way for weeks in the group's Sambisa Forest stronghold in Nigeria's Borno state.
But Chad and Niger especially have complained that the Nigerian military has not stepped in to take over security after towns in border regions have been recaptured by their soldiers.
There have also been reports of Abuja wanting the neighboring armies to withdraw from its territory, allowing in some cases the snuffies to regroup and come back in to liberated areas.
Deby, who has previously bemoaned the apparent lack of a joined-up approach, said Shekau had exploited the situation, allowing him to remain free from capture.
"If there had been better cooperation, Shekau would have been wiped out with all his commanders," the president added.
According to Chad, some 5,000 of its soldiers have been involved in the counter-insurgency and 71 have bit the dust.
Just before Nigeria's presidential election, which Jonathan lost to former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, Deby publicly criticized the president's approach to the security crisis.
On Monday, however, he congratulated Jonathan as a "great democrat" and "Pan-Africanist" for having contributed to the stability and peace of the region by conceding defeat to Buhari.
"When Nigeria coughs, all neighboring countries catch a cold," Deby added.
Deby also met Buhari on his visit but no details were disclosed about their discussions.