We have defeated real Boko Haram – Presidency

The Presidency on Tuesday night declared that the real Boko Haram has been defeated.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said that what is in existence now is a mixture of remnants of the Boko Haram, fugitive criminals and the Islam in Maghreb

He said “The position of the Nigerian government is that the Boko Haram terrorism has been degraded and defeated. The real Boko Haram we know is defeated.

“What we have now is a mixture of remnants of the Boko Haram, fugitive criminals and the Islam in Maghreb together with West African terrorists bonding together. This is a fall out of the collapse of the Libyan State, and from farther away, of the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They are taking advantage of our porous Sahelian borders.

“As a consequence of these international gangs, we have seen an increase of trans-border crimes and the proliferation of small arms in the Lake Chad Basin area. Outrages are common in Niger, Mali, Chad and Cameroon.

“Nigeria is a large country covering nearly one million square kilometres. This is roughly equivalent to the size of France and Germany put together. In addition to our porous borders, in the neighbouring Sahel-Sahara region, a lot of ungoverned areas provide haven for terrorists’ occupation and training.”

He pointed out that without the tremendous efforts of armed forces and the joint operations by the Nigeria-led Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, he said that the single problem of illegal arms flow would have been much worse.
At the moment, he said that the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari has made the country safer than it met it.

He said “In 2015 when he took power, Boko Haram terrorism was active in nearly half the number of states in the country. They controlled a territory the size of Belgium, with a flag and systems of administration and taxation of their own.

“Emirs and Chiefs had fled their domains along with hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens. Such is no more; they have been taken from them.

“At present, terrorist activities have been confined to the remote, rural agrarian areas of Borno State and pockets of outrages in Adamawa and Yobe States.