The former Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd) said President Muhammadu Buhari has fulfilled his promise to subdue Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, terrorists.
Buratai, who made the assertion in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, recalled that President Buhari in his inaugural address on May 29, 2015, promised to subdue the terror groups.
The former COAS, however, warned that it is wrong to think that victory over Boko Haram terrorists meant a total cessation of hostilities. That, he said, would happen only when the terrorist groups agree to forsake their ideology, embrace democracy, respect the national constitution and sue for peace.
Buratai said the President had, right from his inauguration, clear-cut strategies to subdue the terrorists and restore peace to the North East and Nigeria in general.
He recalled the president in his inaugural address saying that the military command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram has been completely subdued.
“I say this with every sense of responsibility that the Buhari administration has subdued the Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism,” said Buratai.
According to him, the president came fully prepared with all the right information about the root causes of the insurgency and terrorism.
Buratai said that the Boko Haram insurgency was allowed to manifest before 2015 by official bungling, negligence, complacency and collusion.
This, he added, made Boko Haram become a terrifying force, taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages, covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory.
“This is the true summary of the Boko Haram armed insurrection. The murder of Muhammad Yusuf by the police was clearly extrajudicial. Negligence, complacency and collusion with the proponents and strategic leaders of the Boko Haram insurgency for selfish reasons caused the insurgency to degenerate into a full-blown nightmare,” he added.