President Goodluck Jonathan has given a
fresh mandate to the military to end the insurgent Boko Haram sect within the
next three months to enable the federal government execute projects meant for
the Northeast geo-political zone which are allegedly stalled by the violence in
the region.
Until last month’s declaration of a
state of emergency by President Jonathan on Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states,
insurgents had made life difficult to residents of some states in the north.
The new presidential directive, military
sources disclosed was part of efforts of the federal government to ensure that
the six months emergency regime in the affected states was not extended.
Already, the president has formally
proscribed Boko Haram and Ansaru with heavy sanctions on their
collaborators and members. An informed source in the security circle told our
correspondent that the policy was part of the outcome of the last Security
Council meeting held in the State House.
At the meeting on Tuesday were the
National Security Adviser, all service chiefs, led by the Chief of Defence
Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, the Inspector-General of Police, the security
chiefs, the ministers of state for defence, police and interior. It was
presided by President Jonathan who reportedly told the Security Council that he
wanted the Boko Haram menace to become a thing of the past within the shortest
time possible.
“After listening to the briefs from the
military chiefs about the situation in the three states where the state of
emergency is in force, President Jonathan expressed his satisfaction with them
and told them that he had promised the whole world that the state of emergency
declared in those states would be lifted before the six months allowed by the
constitution. He then told them, ‘I want an end to the Boko Haram (sect) within
the next three months’ and they all promised to do so,” the source
disclosed.
According to the source, Admiral Ibrahim
assured the president that the rules of engagement were strictly obeyed and
that civilian casualties were being avoided by the troops. It was then the idea
of the proscription was mooted and adopted in order to discourage people from
identifying with the sect.
The minister of state for defence, Erelu
Olusola Obada, allegedly lamented how the insurgency had prevented the
government from implementing the transformation agenda in the affected states
and argued that if the presidential directive was enforced, the government
would be able to make impact in the area before the 2015 general election.
Source: Leadership
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