The Presidency on Sunday admitted that the war against Boko Haram insurgency has not ended, saying the terrorists have not been completely defeated.
This clearly contradicts the claims of the military high command who recently claimed that war had been won and the factional leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau on the run.
Mr. Femi Adesina, the spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari stated this during his appearance on Channels Television’s political programme, Sunday Politics.
Adesina said, “If the operating word is ‘totally’, the answer is no obviously – but has Boko Haram been degraded? I will say yes, terribly so.”
“You can compare then and now, they have been terribly, terribly degraded but is the war over? No, it is not completely over.”
“Compare how Boko Haram was in 2015 when this administration came, they were virtually running riot everywhere – how many time was Kano bombed, how many time was Abuja bombed, how many time was Kogi bombed; Boko Haram was everywhere,” he added.
He regretted the abduction of 110 students of the Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in Yobe State, by suspected Boko Haram terrorists, insisting that it should not have happened.
The presidential spokesman, however, assured Nigerians that that President Muhammadu Buhari is doing all that is needful and necessary to ensure the safe return of the students.
“Truly, it should never have happened. After what the country experienced in the Chibok girls’ saga, this one that just happened in Dapchi should never have happened”, he said.
He noted that two delegations had visited the community of the incident in the directive of the President, adding: “if the President needs to visit (the state), he will surely visit.”
He reiterated the commitment of the government to bringing the girls back safely, stressing that the situation is getting adequate response from the military.