Weather, logistics hampering terrorism war in North-East

Current weather conditions in parts of the country and some logistics have been hampering the nation’s ongoing war against members of the Boko Haram sect, the military said on Monday.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin, in a chat with journalists at the State House Abuja, said this formed part the briefing he gave to President Muhammadu Buhari, at a meeting with security chiefs.

The security chiefs used the opportunity to intimate the President on issues relating to the ongoing terrorism war.

“We briefed the President on the security situation on ground after a 60-day review and we had to brief him on the challenges we have and ensure that the mandate we have is properly delivered.

“Of course, the challenges we are looking at are the issues of probably the weather as it were and some other logistics that we feel we should have so that the mandate can be quickly delivered” he said.

According to him the President was excited about their presentation and granted their request.

Asked if the security chiefs were considering seeking an extension of the period which the President expects them to end insurgency, Olonisakin said, “We have not said that. The mandate is that we should clear Boko Haram from the occupied territories and ensure that we reclaim all the lost grounds. That is exactly what we are doing.”

On possibility of meeting the deadline considering the challenges he enumerated, the CDS said, “It is a military operation and military operations have timelines and these timelines, we are working on them assiduously.”

He said the United States and the United Kingdom had been helping the nation’s troops in capacity building and any other tangible assistance from the countries would be made public.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Aliyu Ismaila, also told reporters that Buhari was excited that the leadership of the armed forces would do the nation proud.

“We are here to brief the President on the situation of what armed forces have been doing in the North East and the South South. That is exactly what we discussed with Mr. President.

“The directive (from the President) is that we should continue what we have been doing and in the next few days, there will be another meeting.

“But by and large, the President is excited and confident that the leadership of the Nigerian armed forces that he puts in will do us proud.”

 

Elizabeth Archibong