The Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr Jaques Champagne de Labriolle has described as “rubbish” claims that some French nationals working with Boko Haram were arrested by Cameroonian troops.
Mr de Labriolle made the denial while addressing journalists at the French Education Fair which held in Abuja on Tuesday.
“This is rubbish,” the ambassador said when asked about the arrests. “Nobody has been arrested by anybody. This is a fake rumour being circulated in Cameroon by people who are against the collective effort [to end terror] I just described. There has been no arrest by anyone of eight French people.”
Mr. de Labriolle who described terrorism as a menace that doesn’t respect borders did not however rule out the possibility of French nationals being involved but insists that as of now, no single French national has been arrested in connection with Boko Haram even if there had been cases of some French citizens being involved with terror groups elsewhere in the world.
“When there was a crisis in Mali, know that some people went from France to Mali, on the wrong side, some people went from France to Syria and Iraq, on the wrong side, just as others went to Afghanistan before. It’s part of life. We have not seen that yet as far as Boko Haram is concerned. I am not saying it is impossible in the future. What I am saying for today is that it is not true that any French citizen has been arrested. This is a fake rumour people are circulating and it is wrong,” the ambassador said.
While insisting that there is no diplomatic row between France and Cameroon as reported in some papers, the ambassador commended the regional effort to tackle Boko Haram.
“Terrorism is a regional problem because terrorism will not respect borders and national ideas. National armies will not be enough to tackle it. It requires regional corporation,” he said.