Chad extends state of emergency in Lake Chad Region

The Chadian Parliament adopted on Monday a resolution extending the state of emergency in Lake Chad Region for a period of six months, Chadian Minister of Public Security and Immigration Ahmat Mahamat Bachir told Xinhua.

Chadian President Idriss Deby had decreed on Nov. 9, 2015 the state of emergency in the border area to Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, which remains the main entry and the point of concentration of Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram militants.

The declaration of state of emergency gives, among others, the power to the governor of the Lake region to prohibit the movement of people and vehicles, to establish protection zones, to order house searches day and night, and to recover weapons.

The Chadian government had decided to support the state of emergency by the actions of socio-economic development in the areas of agriculture, livestock, health and education. A budget of 3 billion CFA francs (one dollar equals to 580 CFA francs) has been allocated for this purpose.

Source: XINHUA