• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Buhari says Boko Haram insurgents will be treated as “bandits”

Boko Haram insurgents

President Muhammadu Buhari says remnants of Boko Haram in the North-east region of the country are bandits, “and we will continue to treat them as such.”

This is just as International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday offered to work with relevant international organizations in securing the release of Leah Sharibu and other hostages held captive by the Boko Haram insurgents

The President spoke Tuesday at State House, Abuja, while receiving Mr Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

According to President Buhari, “Boko Haram has been degraded, but its members are still a nuisance around Lake Chad and surrounding islands. That is why we are cooperating with Chad, Cameroon, Niger Republic, and other countries. We are also using the Air Force quite effectively. They are bandits, and we will continue to treat them as such.”

The President said the government was concentrating on repairing damaged infrastructure, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons, securing their communities, so that they can return home.

He applauded the support of the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations, noting: “The situation of the displaced persons is very pathetic. Some children don’t know where their parents are, neither do they know where they come from.

“We are focusing on education and healthcare, along with rebuilding of infrastructure. The agency formerly under the leadership of Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd) and now headed by Major-General Paul Tarfa (retd) is quietly making an impression. We are dedicating lots of resources to the area.”

President Buhari disclosed that great progress has equally been made in disabusing the minds of people that the insurgency was religious.

“How can you kill people, and say ‘God is great.’ It’s either you don’t know that God, or you don’t know what you are talking about. God is God of justice. And the people have understood the message well, so recruiting is now difficult for the insurgents,” the President said.

The organization while identifying“ funding gaps” as major impediment to providing efficient humanitarian services in the Boko Haram ravaged North Eastern part of Nigeria, has assured of its support to close the funding gaps.

Maurer who condemned hostage taking, adding that “ the Red Cross will assist in whatever ways possible to secure the release of Nigeria’s school children being held hostage”

He applauded Nigeria government’s efforts at closing the funding gaps in tackling humanitarian crises in the North East, but added that “ the needs were far in excess of available funds”

Maurer, in a statement after meeting with the President, said “International humanitarian law more relevant than ever in Nigeria today”

The ICRC said over 258,000 people from areas affected by armed violence got access to health care and over 640,000 received food or agricultural support. During the same period, over 22,000 detainees were visited, since January, 2019

Maurer who had spent two days visiting Maiduguri and Monguno, noted that hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced several times due to the armed conflict is alarming.

“At the heart of IHL lies the protection of civilians, of detainees, of the wounded and sick and other not participating in hostilities. In Nigeria, the authorities have taken several steps – ICRC has provided support to some, such as the strengthening of IHL training for the military – to improve respect for IHL.

Maurer also stressed upon the need for the ICRC to engage with all stakeholders to be able to carry out its neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action. “The essence of the ICRC’s role as a guardian of the Geneva Convention is to talk to all parties to armed conflicts. This does not confer any legitimacy on any party. It means we do our utmost to ensure a minimum of humanity in war.”

Tony Ailemen, Abuja