The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has insisted that the military has largely met the deadline given to it by President Muhammadu Buhari to defeat Boko Haram insurgents, despite last week’s attacks by the sect.
The deadline by President Buhari to the military to defeat Boko Haram expires today.
The minister said, “Without equivocating, I will repeat what I said that has sparked a firestorm: Our gallant military has largely met the deadline! I make this assertion with all sense of responsibility and it is backed by facts.’’
Lai Mohammed, who was speaking during a meeting with News and Political Editors in Lagos on Wednesday, recalled his earlier statement that the military has massively degraded the capacity of the terrorists to carry out the spectacular attacks they executed in the past, like the attacks on the Police Headquarters and the UN Complex, both in Abuja.
He said that in just six months of the Buhari administration, Boko Haram that was in control of a territory larger than an entire geo-political zone in Nigeria ‘’has been reduced to a fleeing, bomb throwing, cowardly and disorganised army.
‘’Among the areas where Boko Haram has been kicked out is Bama, which was the self-declared headquarters of their Caliphate. From there, they collected taxes, dispensed jungle justice, deposed and installed Emirs and hoisted their own flag. Today, the town is firmly in the hands of our troops,’’ the minister said.
He added that all Boko Haram can do now is to attack soft targets: Markets, motor parks, mosques, churches and entertainment centres, killing innocent men, women and children.
He urged Nigerians to be more security conscious in such places.
‘’Not unexpectedly, the dying and desperate insurgents have carried out some attacks on soft targets in the North-east during this festive season. This is cowardly, dastardly and condemnable. We commiserate with the state governments and the families of those who died or were injured in the attacks which, as I said earlier, are like the death pangs of a dying horse
‘’These attacks are part of the propaganda that has been launched by Boko Haram and their fellow terrorists, ISIS, to remain relevant in the face of massive routing by our gallant troops, and to also discredit our committed and patriotic troops. But the attacks do not shake our resolve a bit, in our determined quest to rid our nation of terrorists and ensure the security of our citizens.
-Leadership