One
of the fleeing Boko Haram insurgents recently dislodged in Sambisa forest in
Borno State was arrested on Saturday in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai disclosed the arrest on Sunday at
the re-opening of two major roads in the state that were closed since 2013 at
the height of the activities of the insurgents.
The
roads are Maiduguri-Gubio-Damasak and Maiduguri-Monguno-Baga.
Buratai
charged troops in the North East to pursue the fleeing Boko Haram terrorists
and intercept them.
“You
must maintain the momentum of the operation. We must pursue the terrorists
wherever they are. We must not allow them to regroup,” the army chief said.
He
said in spite of the take over of the terrorists’ last strong hold in the
Sambisa forest as announced by President Muhammadu Buhari, “we have no time to
waste”.
The
chief of army staff described the seven-year fight against the Boko Haram
terrorists as “quite sober and touchy”, saying that a number of officers and
soldiers had lost their lives in the war.
He
prayed for the repose of their souls and vowed that the army would recommit
itself to the fight until “remnants’’ of the terrorists were cleared.
Maj.-Gen.
Lucky Irabor, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, had earlier said
that the North East had been secured.
He
also said that insurgency had brought untold hardship on the people of Borno people
and the entire North East zone.
Irabor
said that the roads being reopened were closed three years ago to check the
incursion of the insurgents, adding that the reopening of such roads was an
indication that the terrorists had been defeated.
In
a message, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, also charged
the military to maintain the tempo of operation and ensure that terrorism was
eliminated from the North East.
Represented
by the Chief of Administration, Defenc Headquarters, Rear Admiral A. A.
Dacosta, Olonisakin restated the commitment of the military to defeating the
terrorists. (NAN)
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