10th September, 2015
The Defence Headquarters has given an assurance that no Nigerian territory will “ever again” be relinquished to the Boko Haram insurgents or any other rebel group. .
The acting Director of Defence Information, Col. Rabe Abubakar, gave the assurance in Abuja on Wednesday while fielding questions from defence correspondents.
He said the Nigerian Armed Forces had severely decimated the command structure of Boko Haram, stressing that the group no longer had the capacity to hold any territory in Nigeria.
Abubakar said recent exploits and gains of the counter-insurgency operations would soon be open for all to see, adding that the Nigerian military had been reinforced to stand any form of aggression.
“I believe that Boko Haram is no longer strong enough to hold any territory in this country because of the level of losses they have suffered as a result of our offensive.
“I make this comment, not only about Gamboru Ngala, but it applies to any other territory in this country and very soon this issue will be clear for all to see.
“But I can assure you that we are doing a lot and never again will Boko Haram or any group at all be allowed to recapture territories taken by our troops.
“What happened was in the past, I can tell you that it will never happen again,” Abubakar said.
The director said Defence Headquarters was working hard on the smooth take- off of the Ndjamena-based Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to complement the efforts of the Nigerian troops.
He said the deployment of troops and take-off of the 8,700-strong MNJTF would give added impetus to the operation of Nigerian troops in the bid to completely annihilate the Boko Haram insurgents.
Abubakar said although a date had not been fixed for the take-off of the force, preparations had reached advance stage for the commencement of the force’s operations along the Chad basin.
On other internal security operations, Abubakar said the military was re-strategising to address other security challenges, such as cattle rustling, piracy, oil theft and other forms of crime affecting other parts of Nigeria.
He said the military under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, was determined to provide the required environment for national development.
According to Abubakar, the current military disposition in various operations nationwide has been driven by absolute determination and commitment to root out terrorists and criminals from their hideouts.
“The military authority is carefully reassessing and re-strategising on effective ways to combat the re-emergence of violent crimes in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.
“Combined efforts of security forces to stamp out acts of illegal activities, such as oil theft, illegal bunkering, piracy and kidnapping have yielded results.
“In the north, especially in the north central, our `operation restore hope’ has been very effective and will definitely address some of the challenges facing communities in the region,” Abubakar said.
He solicited the support of the public in volunteering credible information that would assist security agencies in arresting some of the situations.