Nigeria does not need the help of the United Nations or African Union troops to take on Boko Haram, the National Security Adviser has told the BBC.

Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) said Nigeria, and its neighbours were in a “good shape” to take on the insurgents.

But he acknowledged the group, which is fighting to create an Islamic state, was a “real security threat.”

Since the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency 20 months ago in three north-eastern states to deal with the insurgency, Boko Haram has strengthened and now controls several towns, where it has declared a caliphate.

The militants gained worldwide notoriety after kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls – from Chibok in Borno State, in April last year – who have yet to be rescued.

Recently, they have carried out raids into neighbouring Cameroon. This week Boko Haram’s leader said his fighters had carried out the brutal attacks on the Nigerian town of Baga.

He said they had seized enough weapons from Baga’s military base to “annihilate Nigeria.”

Some reports said that as many as 2,000 people died in Baga, but the Federal Government has disputed this, putting the toll at 150.

Dasuki told the BBC’s Newsday programme that close to 50 per cent of Nigeria’s army was now deployed to the North-East, which he said showed how seriously the situation was being taken.

•Photo shows Sambo Dasuki.