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Tayo Olanipekun
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, has said the narrative about the defeat of Boko Haram insurgents is now a matter of what people chose to believe as the insurgents’ propaganda now makes more headlines in the media than the successes achieved by the government troops.
Buratai stated this in Abuja on Wednesday during a press conference of the African Land Forces Summit 2018, co-hosted with the U.S. Army Africa.
He lamented that the development will only make Nigerians to be “held hostage” and under “unnecessary stress which does not assist for now.”
The Army Chief urged Nigerians not to be swayed by the antics of the insurgents, saying “please do not be carried away by the Boko Haram propaganda. The narrative is in our minds.”
He said that though terrorists are resilient in their operations, residents of Maiduguri and other parts of the northeast will confirm that “Boko Haram has been defeated and restricted within very few isolated areas,” which is why “we continue to pursue them as they move from one point to another.”
According to him, “when we say defeat, it means it will not be able to hold any ground. The Boko Haram will not be able to move freely as they were doing before. I assure you that the majority of the people in the northeast now are quite contented and happy with the security situation and that is a major achievement in that regard.”
Buratai said “the whole Nigerian Army” will move to Borno this year to consolidate and escort those that left their homes in northern Borno back to their locations and resettle. He said the military will also be with the returnees for the next four to five months.
The U.S. Army Africa Acting Commander, Brigadier General Eugene LeBoeuf, said 40 different land force Chiefs attended the summit “to ask each other tough questions, and to better understand what are the best tactics and techniques to address security challenges that they face in combating violent extremist organizations or conducting peacekeeping operations.”
