The Nigerian Presidency is upbeat regarding its chances of decapitating the Boko Haram terrorist sect before its self-imposed three-month deadline.
“From my conversations with the military commanders, what they are saying to themselves is that they are not going to wait for three months, but do their best to beat the target given by the president”, spokesman Garba Shehu said during a parley with journalists on Sunday.
“So there is so much going on and I can assure you that spirits are very high. The army chief was there with the soldiers for about nine days. That is leadership because you see him leading the soldiers from the front.
“If the chief himself is there, who are you to drop your gun? A lot is happening and Boko Haram has been degraded, they have lost central command and are now in splinters.
“What you have now is bits and pieces carrying out distractive action because they don’t want to go down alone. So they are looking for very soft targets such as churches, mosques and markets.
“The air force is clearing this place for the ground troops to move in. They are looking for bomb making structures and moving convoys of these insurgents. But they are being careful about certain locations with the hope not to harm the Chibok girls in those locations,” he said.
According to the president’s spokesman, Sambisa Forest was under observation 24 hours daily in the event somebody decides to move the girls elsewhere. He said if there was any movement that is suspicious, there are drones that fly around the place at night and during the day.
“To be fair to President Buhari, did he ever say he will bring back the girls on the second day of his administration? What he has always said is that we don’t even know where the girls are and that we need to go in there and get the intelligence and the situation of things and then act.
“Without meaning to endanger what is left of those girls, you know that the Sambisa Forest is being degraded right now.
“In the last few days, you even saw the Chief of Army Staff leading the troops and I am aware that in the last few weeks, very interesting pictures have been shown to the president on the basis of which we will say to Nigerians, don’t lose hope on the Chibok girls. I am not saying they have been found or that they have been seen. But it is not yet time for Nigerians to say we have lost them,” he added
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