Boko Haram: Group tasks Army to consolidate on success

The Coalition for Good Governance and Change has urged the Nigerian military to maintain vigilance in order to totally neutralise the remnants of the insurgents from the North-East of the country.

The group, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, implored the Army to consolidate on its successes over Boko Haram terrorists in recent times.

The group said that its message to the Nigerian Army became necessary after a tour of the North-East counter insurgency operation zone by 50 civil society organisations led by its National Coordinator, Okpokwu Ogenyi .

According to the Coalition, stories in the media that Boko Haram is regrouping does not hold water anywhere as only the political wing of the sect has refused to surrender.

“The political wing of Boko Haram has refused to yield to efforts by the Federal Government to declare Nigeria a terrorist free nation.

“The militant wing has continued to remain on the run whilst many fighters continued to surrender to our troops in large number.

“In the course of interaction with the local population, people testified as to how they have been able to return to their communities that the terrorists once overran but have now been returned to the original inhabitants who are now back to rebuilding their lives.

“The local population expressed concerns that mischief makers are exploiting the mood of the nation to scale up propaganda in the media to create the wrong impression to Nigerians.’’

The group said that based on its findings, it was safe to conclude that the war had been won.

It called for a discourse on ways to accelerate and improve on the de-radicalisation of former Boko Haram members that had yielded to superior fighting powers the state.

The coalition commended the Federal Government and the acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, for sustaining the level of victory in the North East in the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari who is on a medical leave.

“There should be a toning down of the unnecessary focus on complicating issues with ethno-religious sentiments.

“The practice has only worsened issues that could have been more easily addressed if everyone involved take nationalistic view of them,’’ the group said in the statement.

Some of the co-signatories to the statement are Ogenyi, National Coordinator, Ibrahim Abubakar , Executive Director, Save Humanity Advocacy Centre and Rev. Steven Onwu, Executive Director New Initiative for Credible Leadership.

Others are Garuba Shehu, Secretary General, National Coalition Against Terrorism, Musa Fomson, National Co-ordinator, Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organisation for Peace and Bagudu Kudu, National President, National Association of Northern Students.