Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday repeated his assertion that his administration will soon defeat Boko Haram. Buhari first declared victory against Boko Haram in 2015.
Buhari boasted that his administration will annihilate Boko Haram, the Punch newspaper reported.
The Nigerian leader reportedly indicated that it is wrong for any individual or group to be killing and destroying properties in the name of God.
Buhari declared:
It is totally wrong for any believer in God to kill innocent people either in the mosque, church or the marketplace.
You cannot be shouting Allahu Akbar (Allah is Great), Allahu Akbar, and be killing innocent citizens and destroying properties all in the name of God. It is either you don’t know what you are saying, or you don’t even believe in the existence of God Almighty.God has nothing to do with injustice. So, now we are confronting them, and by the grace of God we will destroy them.
On several occasions since taking office in 2015, the Buhari administration has claimed victory over the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)-linked Boko Haram only to have the terrorist group carry out deadly attacks soon after the allegation.
In December 2015, the Nigerian leader proclaimed that his administration had “won the war” against Boko Haram.
The following year, the Nigerian military falsely declared that Boko Haram terrorists had “been defeated.”
Nigerian troops made the same claim the following, again asserting that the jihadis had been beaten.
In January, President Buhari insisted that his administration had finally dealt a defeating blow to Boko Haram, but the terrorist group has continued to carry out attacks.
President Buhari has repeatedly claimed that the Nigerian military has beaten Boko Haram, but the group continues to carry out attacks.
President Buhari’s recent claim came less than a week after Boko Haram executed a second International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aid worker kidnapped from Nigeria’s Borno state by the terrorist group in March. The terrorist group has killed two of the three aid workers it captured.
On October 10, the Nigerian military also announced that Boko Haram had killed seven of its soldiers and wounded 16 others in Borno state, the jihadist group’s birthplace.
Despite the “frequent” attacks by Boko Haram in the past weeks, the Nigerian government claims it is winning the war against the jihadis, Africa News noted.
In a statement issued Friday, the Nigerian military said it had received praise from the Non-Violent Peace Initiative (NVPI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) “over successes recorded in the counter-insurgency campaign and peace restoration in the North-East,” the Guardian from Nigeria reported.
Brig.-Gen. Texas Chukwu, a top spokesman for the Nigerian military, reportedly quoted the NGO’s coordinator, Amb. Mohammed Idris, as saying, “We salute the military, their courage, and resilience. We salute their efforts and love for the country, which they placed above themselves.”
Boko Haram terrorists primarily operate in the northern states of Nigeria, specifically Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno, and Kaduna.
The Nigerian military has mainly deployed its troops to Borno.
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