…three airlines have since resumed flights to Maiduguri
Oyin Aminu, Abuja.
The Federal Government says it has begun the last phase of the war on Boko Haram as the military punches deep into the enclaves of the insurgents, rescuing women, children and catalysing the surrender of many insurgents.
“In the past weekend alone, the military handed over more than 82 women and children rescued from the insurgents to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) right here in Maiduguri,” the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed said, speaking on Monday in Maiduguri at the Special Edition of a Town Hall Meeting.
Mohammed also said that three airlines which stopped operations in the heat of insurgency have now rescheduled flights into Maiduguri, following the successful decimation of the insurgent by the Nigerian Military.
“The mere fact that we are gathered here in Maiduguri, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, for this meeting is a testimony to the success that has been recorded in fighting the insurgency.
“In the heat of the insurgency, this would have been impossible. I am told that at least three airlines now have scheduled flights into Maiduguri. None was flying this route at the height of the insurgency. In any case, the airport was not even open for such flights due to safety and security concerns.
The minister said his special assistants, who flew into Maiduguri on Saturday, told him of how they “were pleasantly surprised to see a city that was in sharp contrast to what is being painted out there: busy roads, people going about their daily chores as you would have in any normal city, and even a bubbling nightlife.
“We have come a long way from those days, when Boko Haram could strike at a place and time of their own choosing, when Boko Haram conquered and administered territories. That time, not even Abuja, the heartland of the nation, was safe from the insurgents’ attacks. Today, Boko Haram is no longer capable of carrying out coordinated attacks anywhere. All they do now is to engage in cowardly attacks on soft targets. That, in itself, is a sign of weakness.
“Isolated attacks still occur, but even the best-policed countries cannot prevent determined criminals from committing terrible acts of terror as we have seen during the past years in Europe, Asia, Middle East, elsewhere in Africa and in America,” said the Minister
He noted that the last phase of the war is intelligence-driven, and therefore appealed to the people in the affected areas to cooperate with the military in providing information, especially about fleeing Boko Haram insurgents, since there is the need for vigilance now, more than ever.
“More than 100 Chibok girls have so far been rescued. The government is committed to the safe return of the remaining Chibok girls, and we need every useful information we can get on their whereabouts.
“With Boko Haram beaten and on the run, we are now tackling the post-war challenges of reintegration and rehabilitation. The schools that have been destroyed as a result of years of the insurgency are being rebuilt. The health facilities are being revamped. Overall, our humanitarian response is being scaled up, with the support of our international friends” said Mohammed.
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima in his address, lauded the efforts of the Federal Government in combating the activities of Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast and hailed the theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj Gen. Rogers Nicholas and the field commander, multi-national joint task force (MNJTF) Maj Gen. Lucky Irabor’s efforts in degrading the Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast.
He noted that some of the greatest achievement achieved in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency was achieved under theater commanders who are not northerner who successfully combed the books and crannies of Sambisa Fores.
He urged the federal government to render more support to the Armforces ahead of the rainy season, saying if the rainy season sets, the Sambisa forest can become more thick and fortress for Boko Haram to regroup.
“Nobody could venture out of Maiduguri beyond 10 kilometers, you are in Boko Haram territory, Yerwa was the end of Nigeria, while in Maiduguri-Bama road nobody can move beyond Konduga, also Maiduguri-Monguno road in the northern part of Borno state was the end of Nigeria. The only road to Maiduguri was the Maiduguri Kano road which was also subjected to sporadic attacks by insurgents.”
“To most of us in the northeast, terrorism was not a subject of philosophical history but a reality of everyday life, so if there are any set of people who are the beneficiaries of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration strides in the fight against insecurity, is we in the northeast.
“The fact is, there is strength in the nation’s diverse, it might interest you to note that some of our greatest accomplishment in degrading the Boko Haram insurgents was recorded under theatre commanders who are not even from the northern extraction.
“Basically, what the Armforces have achieved in the past three to six weeks was not achieved in three years. The theatre commander recording this successes is an Igbo man from Imo state, Gen Nicholas Rogers.
“We have to make this country work for the sake of the Africa race, one of every four black man is a Nigerian.
“We will urge the federal government to render more support to the Armforces because if the rainy season sets in the Sambisa forest becomes a fortress for Boko Haram and they might use the opportunity to regroup.
“It is pertinent for us to maintain this tempo, the moral and link upwind every nation including Cameroon, Chad, and Niger let’s synergies with them.
He called on all citizens to support the federal government and the Armforces, as soldiers who die in the epicenter are Nigerians, many of who are not northerners.
The minister of Defence, Gen. Dan Ali, noted that there has been a reduced activities of insecurity in the country.
Quoting his conversations with US President Donald Trump, he acknowledged that “Nigeria military are very strong.”
Ali noted that gone are the days when military personnel will drop their rifles and run saying, it will never happen again.
