President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Niamey, Niger, said he is confident that the Nigerian military will flush out Boko Haram.
Speaking with journalists after talks with President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger, President Buhari said the Nigerian Army remains a virile fighting force.
“I am four days in office today and we have already started the process of ending the insurgency,” the president said.
A senior Nigerian officer has been appointed to take charge of a long-delayed enhanced regional military force against Boko Haram, Abuja said on Wednesday.
Nigeria‘s defence headquarters announced that Major General Tukur Yusuf Buratai had assumed duties as head of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
The 8,700-strong force of military personnel, police and civilians includes Nigeriaand neighbouring Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin.
All five countries agreed earlier this year to boost cooperation to contain the regional threat posed by the Islamist group, whose violent insurgency has killed at least 15,000 since 2009.
Nigerian Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai has been appointed the Force Commander of the Multi-National Joint Task Force and has assumed duties at the new Headquarters in N’Djamena, Chad Republic.
The reorganised MNJTF arrangement is in line with the decisions of member-countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission which include Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroun, with Benin Republic as a honorary member.
A statement by the Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, in Abuja on Wednesday, said the arrangement has the backing of partners in the fight against Boko Haram namely France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
jaw leader and former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark on Wednesday called on Nigerians, irrespective of political affiliations, to rally round President Muhammadu Buhari to succeed in the task of nation building.
He, however charged Buhari to treat all Nigerians equally irrespective of tribe, party or gender without discrimination.
At least six people were killed on Wednesday in an explosion in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, a civilian vigilante assisting the military against Boko Haram and a witness told AFP.
“We have so far recovered six dead bodies. We are still working at the scene, so the casualties may rise,” said Danlami Ajaokuta of the blast on the Baga Road, which happened at 5:30 pm (1630 GMT).
Maiduguri has been a regular target for Boko Haram Islamists since the group began its insurgency six years ago and has been hit four times since last Friday.
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