MNJTF (Multinational Joint Task Force)

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is a regional counter-insurgency force comprising troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin, headquartered in N'Djamena, Chad. It operates under the political authority of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and was endorsed by the African Union Peace and Security Council, which authorized its deployment in early 2015 with an initial mandated strength of roughly 8,700 personnel.

Although the LCBC had maintained a smaller joint force since the 1990s to address cross-border banditry, the MNJTF was substantially reconfigured and expanded in 2014–2015 in response to the rapid territorial expansion of Boko Haram (Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad) in northeastern Nigeria and its spillover into the Lake Chad region. Benin, though not an LCBC member, joined the reconstituted force given the regional threat.

The MNJTF divides its area of operations into sectors, each led by a contributing country: Sector 1 (Cameroon, Mora), Sector 2 (Chad, Baga-Sola), Sector 3 (Nigeria, Baga/Monguno), and Sector 4 (Niger, Diffa). Major joint operations have included Operation Gama Aiki (2016) and Operation Lake Sanity (launched 2022, with a second iteration in 2024), aimed at clearing insurgent strongholds in the islands and shoreline of Lake Chad.

The force has faced persistent challenges: uneven troop contributions, funding gaps (the EU has been a significant donor through the African Peace Facility and successor mechanisms), coordination friction with national militaries, and the 2015 split that produced Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which now rivals Boko Haram. Niger's participation came under strain following the July 2023 coup in Niamey and the subsequent regional realignment, complicating cross-border coordination.

The MNJTF is frequently cited as a case study in African-led, sub-regional security cooperation outside the formal ECOWAS or standby-force architecture.