A screen grab taken on August 24, 2014 from a video released by the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and obtained by AFP shows the leader of the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (C), delivering a speech at an undisclosed location.

Foreign ministers from Nigeria and neighbouring countries met on Wednesday to discuss Boko Haram, as the militants’ rapid land grab intensified in the far northeast, raising fears for regional security.

The one-day meeting of representatives from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger also includes officials from the United States, Britain, France and Canada plus the African Union and United Nations.

Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs said the talks were aimed at “reviewing progress” of earlier meetings in Paris and London as well as the Africa Summit held in the United States last month.

In particular, it would examine “the extent of foreign assistance, including efforts by the Nigerian government, in the continued fight to… rout the Boko Haram insurgency”, it added.

Regional powers vowed to play a greater role against the Islamists after the mass kidnapping of more than 200 girls from their school in northeast Nigeria in April, which caused global outrage.

International powers sent intelligence and surveillance specialists and equipment to Abuja to help trace the missing teenagers, 217 of whom are still being held captive.

But nearly five months on from the abduction, Western diplomats have indicated that there has been little progress, despite a claim from Nigeria’s military that they had located the girls.

Recent weeks have seen Boko Haram take and hold swathes of territory in northeast Nigeria, with the country’s military seemingly unable to check their advance.

On Monday, residents said the militants took over the town of Bama, 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, sending hundreds of soldiers fleeing.

But top brass disputed the claim and maintained that they were still in control.

AFP