Cameroon said it has begun deploying 3,000 extra troops to buttress its border with Nigeria against the threat posed by marauding Boko Haram militants.

The step was taken in fulfilment of the accord reached in Paris after a regional security summit brokered by Frances Francois Hollande.

The conference saw Nigeria and its neighbours vow greater cooperation to tackle Boko Haram because of the potential threat to regional stability.

Cameroon, criticised in Nigeria for providing safe haven to the militants, said that 3,000 troops had been sent to the country’s northern border with Nigeria.

“It’s a significant number since the number of troops and police currently posted in the region is fewer than 1,000,” a police source told AFP.

Boko Haram militants occasionally carried out kidnapping raids in the country, the latest being the kidnap of 10 Chinese workers.