President Buhari: Taking Sambisa, Rescuing Chibok Girls Our Last Major Task

Speaking at the summit yesterday, Buhari said he had significantly fulfilled his promise to rout Boko Haram, which has wreaked havoc in the Nigeria’s North-east since 2009, and spread its activities to countries within the Lake Chad Basin.He said, “When I started, our first task was to improve our security infrastructure and strengthen our regional and international alliances. We have degraded Boko Haram and squeezed them into a small enclave in Sambisa forest. What remains is the dislodgement of terrorists from their hideouts from the Sambisa forest and liberate the Chibok girls and others. Boko Haram now resorts to hit and run tactics.”Buhari stated that the country’s military operations against terrorists had followed acceptable international standards. “We have not only observed human rights and international humanitarian law in our military operations, we have also diligently implemented several proactive programmes. Today, we have achieved significant outcomes. Boko Haram is no longer a cohesive force, but a group of self-seeking individuals pursuing personal glory,” he said.The president listed some of the feats recorded at both bilateral and multilateral levels since the Paris summit in 2014 to include recovery of all the territories occupied by the terrorist group; establishment of special military units by Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon to prosecute the war on terror; admission of Benin Republic to the group to strengthen the regional coalition; establishment of the Regional Intelligence Fusion in Abuja and its operation; and strengthening border security among member states.Buhari said the regional alliance had also set up the Inter-Regional Coordination Centre (ICC), based in Yaounde, Cameroon, under the aegis of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), to coordinate and disseminate intelligence and security information to all member states. It has reactivated the MNJTF with 8,500 officers and men, drawn from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin, with headquarters in Ndjamena, Chad, he said.

Buhari vowed to ensure that the Chibok girls and others held by Boko Haram were rescued. The girls had been kidnapped from their hotel in April 2014 while they were preparing to write the Senior School Certificate Examination. “Let me reiterate our firm commitment to safely rescue and re-unite the abducted Chibok girls with their families. Our government will not spare any effort to achieve this important mission,” he vowed. He said the MNJTF would be strengthened to rid the region of the last vestiges of Boko Haram. On the need to address the root causes of terrorism and articulate a post-conflict development plan, Buhari said, “Only by bringing development to the areas affected by the insurgency and by protecting the victims and the IDPs and refugees, can we assure genuine recovery for conflict devastated areas.”