President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday directed the Command and Control Centre of the military to move to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, for effective coordination of the ongoing military operations against Boko Haram in the North-East. Buhari, who gave the directive at the Eagle Square, Abuja, during his inauguration, said total victory against Boko Haram could not be achieved, if the centre remains at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja. His directive, however, came on a day a twin explosion killed seven people and dozens of others injured in Borno State.
It was also gathered that the state police command has arrested one person in connection with the incident. However, President Buhari, while promising to commission a “sociological study” to determine the origin, modus operation, sponsorship as well as foreign collaborators of the outlawed sect, said the study would be commissioned as soon as the insurgents were completely routed from the North-East. Therefore, the President said: “My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into.
With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts, the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble. “It will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely, Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment, especially among young people. “The most immediate is Boko Haram insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory cannot be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja.
The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain there until Boko Haram is completely subdued.” Speaking further, he said: “But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.
“This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following his extra judicial murder at the hands of the police.
Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory. “Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of.
At the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connections to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of this evil. For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko Haram.”
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