BOKO HARAM MEMBERSHIP MADE UP OF MOSTLY FOREIGNERS....COAS

LT-GEN T.Y. BURATAI

A larger percentage of members of the Boko Haram sect that has been attacking the North eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in Nigeria, have been said to be made up of foreigners.

This can be attributed to the current activities of members of the sect in areas where they have continued to pose a threat to the nation’s security.

Giving credence to this recently was the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai at the headquarters of the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole at the Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno while receiving the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambers.

Addressing the Special Representative, “Your Excellency, I want to bring to your attention that while the Boko Haram insurgency can be said to have started in Nigeria, by and large as at today, I can say that almost 60 per cent of the insurgents are from our neighbouring countries”.

“You can see that almost all of the recently surrendered insurgents are not Nigerians”.

“This is a challenge that impacts more on the Nigerian side than the other countries. But by and large, our military is up to the task and we will continue to do our best to ensure that our country is secured”, he said.

Continuing, the COAS stated that, there was no doubt that the terrorists had been defeated but added that troops would continue with their operations until the insurgents finally surrender.

The Chief of Army Staff thanked the UN for identifying with Nigeria in its efforts to rout-out the terrorists and solicited additional support from the world body.

The Special Representative had earlier on disclosed that his visit (on behalf of Dr. Ibn Chambers) by the UN was a show of solidarity with Nigeria as against terrorism and in the fight against Boko Haram and efforts to restore peace to the North-East region.

The Special Representative restated the UN’s condemnation of the terrorists’ group, adding “we are behind the Federal Government’’ in its efforts to defeat the terrorists.

Ibn Chambas noted that the immediate consequence of the insurgency was the “huge humanitarian crisis’’ in the North-East and assured the COAS that the UN had stepped up efforts to address it, while also calling on the international community and donor agencies to come to the aid of Nigeria in addressing the crisis.

He commended Nigeria’s involvement in the UN peacekeeping missions across the world.

Using the occasion to commiserate with the Federal Government, the Nigerian Army and families of late Lt. Col. Muhammad Abu-Ali, who along with six other soldiers were killed by the insurgents on November 4, he said that their sacrifices and those of others who had died in the course of the war would not be in vain as Nigeria would be supported to win the war.

Culled from NAN