ECOWAS says no plans for April 8 summit on Boko Haram

                            
West African bloc ECOWAS on Sunday withdrew an earlier statement announcing a regional summit on April 8 to discuss the Boko Haram threat, saying no such meeting was planned for that day.

ECOWAS did not specify whether the summit had been cancelled or postponed.

In a new statement, the organisers said they considered the earlier announcement "void".

"We sincerely apologise for this misunderstanding," ECOWAS said, without giving any further details.

Earlier on Sunday, ECOWAS had said leaders of west and central African states would gather in the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo, on Wednesday to try to draw up a joint strategy against Nigeria's Boko Haram militants.

It was to be the first summit of its kind since Nigeria's election a week ago which was won by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader who has vowed to rid his country of the "terror" of Boko Haram.

The summit was to be organised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

No one from ECOWAS was immediately available for comment.