Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Tuesday, September 22, 2015 reaffirmed the military’s commitment to routing Boko Haram terrorists within 3 months, regardless of the utterances of the leader of the insurgent group, Abubakar Shekau.
Shekau had in a recent audio clip debunked recent claims of victory by the Nigerian military, stating that his sect still had the upper hand in the ongoing face off between Boko Haram and Nigerian forces.
Speaking via a statement, the Acting Director of Defence Information, Col. Rabe Abubakar, said: “The Military viewed as irrelevant and fruitless, the motive behind the recent audio clip presumably released by Shekau, the acclaimed leader of Boko Haram sect.
“The Armed Forces is using this medium to appeal to Nigerians not to lose sleep over the concocted audio rhetoric of the waning terrorist sect, which is a usual antic of a drowning person struggling to hold on to anything to remain afloat.
“The Armed Forces wishes to reiterate that it is a well-known fact that the terrorists have been seriously decimated and the tremendous effort and achievement recorded by combined forces of the Nigerian Army and the Air Force is commendable.
“The Armed Forces did not lie about the successes recorded so far in its counter-insurgency operations. For the avoidance of doubt, the liberated communities in the North-East, which were hitherto under the throes of Boko Haram terrorists, are free for an interested person or body to explore.
“The military restates that a number of Boko Haram members have been surrendering and denouncing radicalization.
“Our candid advice to Shekau or his ghost, cohorts or impersonators is to toe the line of their fellow comrades and surrender.”
