The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Wednesday, said that
judging by the current activities of the Boko Haram terrorists, 60 percent
of them are not Nigerians.
Buratai said this in Maiduguri when he received the Special Representative
of the UN Secretary-General, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, at the headquarters
of the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole at the Maimalari
Cantonment.
“Your Excellency, I want to bring to your attention that while the Boko
Haram (insurgency) can be said to have started in Nigeria, by and large as
at today, I can say that almost 60 percent of the insurgents are from our
neighbouring countries.
“You can see that almost all of the recently surrendered insurgents are
not Nigerians.
“This is a challenge that impacts more on the Nigerian side than the other
countries. But by and large, our military is up to the task and we will
continue to do our best to ensure that our country is secured,’’ Buratai
said.
He said that there was no doubt that the terrorists had been defeated but
added that troops would continue their operations until the insurgents
finally surrender.
The army chief thanked the UN for identifying with Nigeria in its efforts
to rout out the terrorists and solicited additional support from the world
body.
Speaking earlier, Dr. Chambas said that his visit was an expression of the
UN’s identification with Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram and
efforts to restore peace to the North-East region.
He restated the UN’s condemnation of the terrorists’ group, adding “we are
behind the Federal Government’’ in its efforts to defeat the terrorists.
Chambas noted that the immediate consequence of the insurgency was the
“huge humanitarian crisis’’ in the North-East and assured him that the UN
had stepped up efforts to address it.
He called on the international community and donor agencies to come to the
aid of Nigeria in addressing the crisis.
He said that Nigeria had always been involved in the UN peacekeeping
missions across the world.
The UN representative used the occasion to commiserate with the Federal
Government, the Nigerian Army and families of late Lt. Col. Muhammad
Abu-Ali, who along with six other soldiers were killed by the insurgents
on Nov. 4.
He said that their sacrifices and those of others who had died in the
course of the war would not be in vain as Nigeria would be supported to
win the war.