SAN FRANCISCO, August 21, (THEWILL) – The Federal government on Wednesday said there should be no controversy over the supposed killing of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, by the military, stressing that the development should be seen as a logical progression of events since the clampdown on the sect began three months ago with the declaration of emergency rule in Adamawa, Boro and Yobe States .
“Relating to the story that we have read, I think it is better we leave it at that. These people are on the run and we will allow the military to tell the story. It should give us more confidence. What it means is that the security forces are closing up on some of the king pins of this murderous group that has denied thousands of Nigerians their lives.
“Some of the key leaders have been pronounced dead. I think that rather than losing confidence, we should continue to pray for the military continue to hope that in the end they succeed and they are succeeding,” the Minister of Information, Mallam Labaran Maku, stated while briefing journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held in Abuja.
Calling on Nigerians to support the military instead of doubting them over the ongoing campaign against terror, the Minister said : “You will notice that since the president proclaimed the state of emergency three months ago, we have kept political comments out of it.
“We decided that it is better for the military to tell their story; that is why I have not spoken on it. We want to remove this security operation from any misunderstanding especially from politicians. As a government, it is our operation but the most important thing is to allow the military tell the story of what is happening.”
While praising the military and security services for making good progress in the war on terror, Maku said their efforts have started yielding results as annual festivities and economic activities in many parts of the North have resumed with normalcy gradually returning to the troubled area.
“Today, leaders of the insurgents are running from pillars to post because the area is no longer conducive for them as it used to be,” he said as he implored Nigerians to be proud of the nation’s security forces.
“As we clock three months of the state or emergency, the military has just announced the creation of a new division which means that the operation would further go up from what it is. It will be more orderly and the military will gain further control which was shared with other security services. This also shows the emphasis by the military to ensure complete success,” he added.
Maku listed the gains of the declaration of emergency rule to include international support for the military, condemnation of the criminality of the sect members and accusation of the Boko Haram members by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“One of the fall outs of the declaration of state of emergency is the increase confidence by member of the public to come out clearly to interface with the security forces in identifying some of the hide outs of the criminals and murderers involved in the terrorist attacks on innocent Nigerians. You have very crucial roles being played by youths in the area,” Maku stated.
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