As Boko Haram is pushed to the corner, govt asks army to remain vigilant

Boko Haram is an Islamic extremist/terror group based in northeastern Nigeria, also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.

Lagos, July 11: With Boko Haram insurgents withdrawing to safe havens, the Nigerian government has alerted 70 commanding officers of the army to remain vigilant.

The insurgents are now in disarray, attacking soft and defenceless targets, and withdrawing to safer havens in other parts of the country, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff, said in northern Kaduna, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

The Army Chief assured that the military would decimate remaining terrorists, adding that the Nigeria Army will continue to remain focused and reinvigorated to fulfill its mission.

"To this end, the Nigeria Army will do all that are humanly feasible to provide all logistics and operational requirements necessary to contain the security challenges faced by the country in the course of carrying out our constitutional role," he said.

Buratai said the Boko Haram insurgency, militancy, pipeline vandalism, cattle rustling, kidnapping, ethno-religious crisis, armed robbery and other crimes have remained portent security challenges in the country.

Boko Haram is an Islamic extremist/terror group based in northeastern Nigeria, also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. The group had alleged links to al-Qaeda, but in March 2015, it announced its allegiance to the Islamic State.

IANS