LAKE CHAD: Taskforce Withdrawal.

The article focuses on Niger's announcement to withdraw from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), a regional military coalition combating Islamist insurgencies around Lake Chad, in order to prioritize protecting its oil infrastructure. This decision follows heightened tensions among the four Lake Chad-bordering countries—Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria—exacerbated by Niger’s 2023 military coup and Chad’s earlier threat to leave the alliance after a deadly Boko Haram attack. Despite strained relations, Nigerian and Nigerien foreign ministers held talks in April 2025 addressing cross-border security and terrorism. Additionally, Niger increased troop deployments along its border with Burkina Faso to counter ongoing Islamist militant threats near the town of Makalondi.