Nigeria and its four neighboring nations on Saturday pledged to deploy 8,700 troops, police and civilians as part of a regional effort to fight Boko Haram militants, Sky news reported.
"The representatives of Benin, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad have announced contributions totalling 8,700 military personnel, police and civilians," the countries said in a statement after a meeting in Cameroon's capital Yaounde.
The announcement came out of a three-day summit focused on organizing the force that will battle the Islamist militants, who are engaged in a worsening six-year insurgency centered in northeastern Nigeria.