… as FG plans to launch security campaign against Boko Haram
… identifies missing link
The Theater Commander in charge of the ongoing anti-terrorism war in the North East, Maj. Gen. Yushau Abubakar says over 80,000 towns and villages have been liberated by the Joint Military Task Force in the three North Eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
The Commander made the revelation on Saturday, when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed visited the command as part of his tour to Bama area of Borno State.
He said the visit would further give Nigerians firsthand information of success so far recorded by the military since the inception of the present administration in its resolve to decimate Boko Haram before the December 31 deadline.
In his remarks, the minister said the purpose of the visit was to give the media and other Nigerians who are not in the theatre of war firsthand information of the gallant efforts of the Nigerian military and other security agencies in tackling insurgency in the affected areas of the N/E.
He said the government considers the media as the most critical in the ongoing efforts to end insurgency, hence the need for the visit.
Meanwhile, the minister said the Federal Government has concluded plans to launch a security campaign against Boko Haram as part of its plan to support the security agents in their drive to end insurgency in Nigeria.
The campaign is aimed at consolidating on the successes of the military in the war-torn areas of the North East and would be fashioned after the 1967-70 civil war.
The minister noted that insurgency has persisted in the country due to the failure of the civilians to complement the effort of the military in the ongoing war against Boko Haram.
He called on the citizens to reciprocate the effort of the military by supplying them with intelligence reports and useful information that would aid them to bring the menace to its end.
‘‘From what I have seen, what is missing is the civilian component of the war because the military can’t face it alone. People see it as a religious or ethnic war but that is not true. Terrorism is terrorism, does not know religion and ethnicity. That is why people should see it as their own fight,” he added.
The minister, however, insisted that civilians must do their bit to complement the efforts of the military who has put in a lot to recapture most of the lost territories.
-Vanguard