Chidi Samuel
President Mohammadu Buhari does not believe that the war against the Boko Haram insurgents is over and never said so, in spite of the huge success recorded by the Nigerian Military recently. Mr Femi Adesina, the Presidential Spokesman noted that Mr Muhammadu Buhari has been misinterpreted by the press.
Adesina, speaking on Channels Television on Monday, said the President Buhari only commended the military when they overran the camp zero enclave of the insurgents at the Sambia forest last Saturday, maintaining that he never pronounced the defeat of the Boko Haram insurgents.
According to Adesina, “If you look at the President word-for-word, there is no place you will see him say that (the victory) signposts the defeat of the Boko Haram, no! It’s an interpretation by the press.
“What the President did was to congratulate the military for taking over the last camp of the Boko Haram which is called camp zero.
“What that effectively means is that Sambisa forest which was like the last stronghold of the Boko Haram has been effectively taken over by the military,” he noted.
He maintained that the war against the insurgency was asymmetric and not conventional and such wars do not end for a very long time.
“There will always be bitter enders at any given time. Even as Sambisa forest has been taken over, you will still find some elements who will continue to fight and they will be taken out eventually.
“This kind of war is not one that at a point you will say because Sambisa has been taken over, its over for now, no! It is over when we stop having strikes and attacks,” he said with an assurance that the war would be over.
