- A civil society organisation has said it will mobilise other group to visit the once dreaded Boko Haram terrorists' hideout
- The group said it plans to assess the effort of the Nigerian military in the counter-insurgency
- The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) said expects the tour to dampen the distraction currently placed in the path of the military.
A civil society organisation has organised a tour to Boko Haram terrorists' most deadly hideout, Sambisa Forest.
The organisation, the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) said that the war being waged against Boko Haram terrorists is still on course.
The group said it will therefore mobilise 20 other local and international NGOs to embark on a tour of Sambisa Forest, the north east and other parts of Nigeria to ascertain the level of success in the counter-insurgency war.
CESJET said the tour will also help assess troops' responsiveness to emergency and the current state of affairs of the various operations being carried out by the military.
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Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, March 6, the executive director of the organisation, Joyce Ogwu, said CESJET expects that the tour will offer an insight into the roles of the military in fighting insurgency.
Ogwu said the organisation also expects the tour to dampen the distraction currently placed in the path of the military.
An aerial view of Sambisa forest. Photo source: Nigerian Air Force
She said this is imperative because of the need to allow the military focus on totally ridding Nigeria of terrorism under whatever guise.
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She said: "The devious purveyors of falsehood that are milking this tragedy are creating the impression that the counter-insurgency war has halted or has failed in the aftermath of the attack on Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi."
"We have found such claims to not only be untrue but also mischief at its height. Our concern is that such manipulation of reality is calculated to boost the morale of Boko Haram terrorists to regroup from their defeat.
They had earlier scattered into the desert and neighboring countries after the Nigerian army dealt them crippling blows but are now being given confidence by those that are exploiting the Dapchi girls to instigate the terrorists to come back together. We are seeing a repeat of strategies earlier deployed by Boko Haram come into play all over again," Ogwu said.
While condemning the Dapchi schoolgirls attack, Ogwu said it is important to point out that it is still an isolated incident.
"Unlike the series of attacks in the past that showed the display of helplessness by the military, the Nigerian military has continued to maintain recovered grounds.
It is apparent that those peddling negative stories about the war on insurgency do so because they believe they can instigate Nigerians to force the military to divulge full details of its strategy in the counter-insurgency war because there has been reported changes in the approach adopted against the terrorists," she added.
She also appealed to Nigerians not to relent in supporting the military as many at times, Boko Haram attacks soft targets which can be averted through prompt and reliable information sharing.
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NAIJ.com earlier reported that the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, had the terrorist group as a non-serious fighting force.
The vice president said the terrorist group is only doing what it takes to feed off the oxygen of media attention in their recent attacks.
Osinbajo also called on Nigerians not to relent in supporting the federal government in the fight against terrorism as the war against the group is not an unwinnable war.
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Source: Naija.ng