The Nigerian Army on Friday said it has reclaimed all territories earlier captured by Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.
The Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this in a statement in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Nwachukwu dismissed as โmisleading,โ reports indicating that seven of the 27 local government areas of Borno State were still under Boko Haram control.
He described the insinuation as an attempt to propagate falsehood and a futile effort to misinform members of the public on the true security situation in the North East.
Nwachukwu said troops under the Operation Lafiya Dole had recorded significant successes in the counter insurgency operation and rooted out the insurgents from their major tactical enclave in Sambisa forest and spiritual headquarters at Alagarno.
He said: โIt is very crucial to set the record straight by making it crystal clear that contrary to this misleading report, the Boko Haram terrorists do not hold or control any local government area in Borno or in the North East as claimed by some elements.
โLocal government areas hitherto controlled by Boko Haram have been liberated by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole.
โThe troops have continued to ensure security in the liberated areas after routing out the insurgents.
โDisplaced persons are also encouraged to return to their communities, to resume their normal life.โ
Nwachukwu said the military had conducted various operations to enhance their operations, decimate the insurgentsโ group and protect the nationโs territorial integrity.
The Army spokesperson listed the exercises to include Operations DEEP PUNCH, CHIKIN GUDU and RAWAN KADA, adding that the operations were conducted in collaboration with the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
โThese operations culminated in the degradation and incapacitation of Boko Haram insurgents.
โApparently, this is the reason the insurgents are striving to remain relevant by resorting to callous use of women and children to carry out suicide bomb attacks on soft and vulnerable targets,โโ he added.
Nwachukwu stressed that the army had initiated precursor operations to put a final onslaught to the insurgency in the North East.
He noted that a special Mobile Strike Force was launched in the theatre of operations to effectively patrol localities as well as seek out and neutralise the insurgents from their hideouts.
โRecently, a total of 82 Boko Haram insurgents were killed in combat and 630 remote settlements cleared by troops.
โ Our troops are tirelessly on the trail of the fleeing insurgents as devastating coordinated aerial and artillery bombardments are being unleashed on the terrorist group. โThe troops are therefore not waiting only to repel attacks as erroneously painted, but rather tactically deployed to deny the adversaries freedom of action and access to logistics,โ the army spokesman stated.
