Speaking to journalists on Thursday, the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, said Boko Haram members usually run from place to place after launching attacks, making it difficult for security personnel to track them down. The minister however assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was “on top of the situation”.
Moro, who was reacting to accusations that the Islamic sect’s tactic has defied all the ingenuity of government, spoke shortly after receiving officials of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in his office.
He said, “It is not right to say government is losing the battle. Have there been Boko Haram attacks in the past weeks? Have there been bomb explosions today (Thursday)? You can’t say the sect has defied government solutions.
“They engage in guerrilla warfare, running away after each attack and making it difficult for security men to get them, but it doesn’t mean that they are winning the battle. Government is on top of the situation and very soon, the attacks would stop,” Moro assured.
The minister had earlier informed the NEPAD team that the Federal Government was keen on reducing the high unemployment rate in the country through investment in agriculture and other sectors.
The minister spoke even as THE PUNCH learnt that the Federal Government had deployed more troops in Borno State, the operational base of the Islamic sect.
The deployment came a few days after the co-founder of the violent sect, Aliyu Tishau, indicted security agencies on a television interview programme.
Tishau in the interview on Africa Independent Television accused security agencies, especially the police, of negligence in the attacks carried out by Boko Haram, saying the police treated advance warnings with levity.
The Director of Defence Information, Col. Mohammed Yerima, who announced the deployment of more troops to Borno, said the Special Task Force, Operation Restore Order, had been given a mandate to end terrorism in the North.
Yerima made the disclosure while reading the address of a joint press briefing by heads of information of the core security agencies in the country in Abuja on Thursday.
He called on Nigerians to support the operation by providing information to security operatives.
Present at the briefing were the Director of Information of the Nigerian Army, Brig. Gen Raphael Isah; his Naval counterpart, Commodore Kabiru Aliy; the Director of Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas; and the Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Olusola Amore.
The defence spokesperson also said that Private Jaduwa Thlama, one of the two soldiers arrested for complicity in the abduction of the father of Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, in Jos, Plateau State, had been dismissed and handed over to the police for prosecution.
He said that another soldier, Sgt. Victor Essien, described as an accomplice of Thlama, had been referred to a ‘higher prosecuting authority in line with the Nigerian Army military ethics.’
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