Nigeria on Thursday named Major-General Iliya Abbah as the head of the N’djamena based multinational task force created to fight Boko Haram jihadists. He replaces Maj General Tukur Buratai, who was named chief of army staff two weeks ago.

Abbah previously commanded military operations in the oil-rich Niger Delta, will head the five-nation force, Nigerian military spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said.

The Multi-National Joint Task Force, made up of 8,700 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, is expected to be more effective than a current alliance in the battle to end Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency, which has claimed some 15,000 lives.

In a joint statement after their talks in Yaounde, Buhari and Cameroon’s President Paul Biya expressed “their common determination to eradicate Boko Haram… and agreed to intensify the exchange of information between the two countries.”

They will also beef up security along their shared border, the statement added.

Asked when the new regional force would go into action, Buhari said: “It should be ready today or tomorrow, by the end of this month.”

But he added: “After the promises of G7 countries to help the region defeat Boko Haram, we are waiting for training, equipment and intelligence assistance.”

Buhari visited Washington last week but returned empty-handed because the United States is prohibited by law from sending weapons to countries that fail to tackle human rights abuses, a stance the Nigerian leader said was helping Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks since Buhari took office in May, unleashing a wave of violence that has claimed more than 800 lives in just two months.

In another gruesome attack reported Thursday, Boko Haram militants slit the throats of 10 fishermen in villages on the shores of Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria on Monday, a fisherman and a resident told AFP.