Fed Govt: War against Boko Haram largely won

Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed yesterday appraised the anti-terror war and concluded that the military had met the December deadline set by President Muhammadu Buhari to crush Boko Haram terrorists.

The minister made the remark at his maiden meeting with editors of media organisations in Lagos.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on assumption of office issued a December 31 deadline to the military to wipe out insurgents.

He said: “Today, I can report that the war against Boko Haram is largely won. I can confidently say this because just recently, I led a group of 33 journalists from both the local and international media to the hotbed of the insurgency, that is, Maiduguri, Kondugua, Kaoure and Bama.

“Today, I can report to you that the more than the 70-kilometer stretch from Maiduguri to Bama and all the way to Banki, which leads to Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR), are in the hands of our gallant troops.”


He said the military presence could be felt “every few metres along the road. At a point along that road, we were just a kilometre to Sambisa forest.

“They have so degraded the capacity of Boko Haram that the terrorists can no longer hold on to any territory just as they can no longer carry out any spectacular attack.”

The minister, however, said that though there were still cases of suicide bombings, it was pertinent to note that such was the nature if insurgency globally.

His words: “Unlike a war between two armies, an insurgency never ends with arms victory. Even in countries like Colombia, where insurgency was supposed to have ended decades ago, attacks like this still happen.”

He said that the insurgents had adopted a new style of attacking soft targets like motor parks, schools, entertainment centres, religious centres, killing innocent people, mostly women and children.

“It is our turn as civilians to give them (troops) our support; to realise that the war they are fighting is not their war alone, but our war, hence we must own the war,” Mohammed said.

The minister said a national security campaign had commenced to raise awareness among Nigerians about the war, the sacrifices of troops and how to stamp out the remnant of the war.

“Jingles are being played on national radio and television as part of the campaign in order to keep the media better informed about the war, so that they can also better inform Nigerians,’’ he said.

Mohammed also said that an ad-hoc committee, comprising media representatives as well as intelligence agencies, would be inaugurated to regularly be updated about the war to inform members of the public better.