President Buhari taking oath of office…on Friday.
PHOTO: NAN
The Boko Haram insurgency may soon be
consigned to the dustbin of history if the
pronouncements of the new Nigerian president is
anything to go by.
President Muhammadu Buhari said shortly after
he was sworn in at the Eagle Square on Friday
that his government would ensure that the violent
religious sect is totally defeated, while also
acknowledging the helping hands offered the
country by neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger
in the fight against terrorism.
Buhari explained that while progress has been
made in the fight against the insurgent group in
recent weeks, the fight was far from being over.
"Progress has been made in recent weeks by our
security forces but victory can not be achieved by
basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja.
The command centre will be relocated to
Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is
completely subdued," he said.
He also established his commitment to rescuing
the Chibok Girls who were kidnapped on April 14,
2014 by Boko Haram. In fact, the president stated
that the fight against Boko Haram cannot end
without the girls being rescued.
He said: "But we can not claim to have defeated
Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and
all other innocent persons held hostage by
insurgents. This government will do all it can to
rescue them alive. "
While stating the genesis of the campaigns of
violence by Boko Haram, President Buhari took a
thinly-veiled swipe at his predecessor's handling
of the issue.
"Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires
causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox
preacher with a tiny following was given
posthumous fame and following by his extra
judicial murder at the hands of the police.
"Since then through official bungling, negligence,
complacency or collusion, Boko Haram became a
terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives
and capturing several towns and villages covering
swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory."
Buhari characterised the insurgents as a mindless
bigots who have a perverted sense of religion of
Islam. He said members of the group cannot
claim to be speaking for Islam. He also
established his plans after the group might have
been defeated.
"Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who
are as far away from Islam as one can think of.
At the end of the hostilities when the group is
subdued the Government intends to commission a
sociological study to determine its origins, remote
and immediate causes of the movement, its
sponsors, the international connexions to ensure
that measures are taken to prevent a reccurrence
of this evil.
"For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged
with prosecuting the fight against Boko haram.
We shall overhaul the rules of engagement to
avoid human rights violations in operations.
"We shall improve operational and legal
mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken
against proven human right violations by the
Armed Forces.
"Boko Haram is not only the security issue
bedeviling our country. The spate of kidnappings,
armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes,
cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air
of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect
and maintain an efficient, disciplined people –
friendly and well – compensated security forces
within an over – all security architecture."
