Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has said the North-East has lost $9bn to the activities of terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Buratai said this in Lagos while delivering a paper at the inaugural Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers of Nigeria.

Buratai, who was represented by General Commanding Officer, 81 Division, Maj. Gen. Peter Dauke disclosed that the army had rescued more than 300,000 hostages of the terrorists between 2015 and now.

He said, “It is regrettable that the economic impact of the Boko Haram activities in the North-East is estimated at $9bn. Borno State had the highest impact estimated at $5.9bn. Also, the loss of agricultural production in the North-East caused by terrorist activities was $3.5bn.

“The restructuring of the army operations in the North-East in 2015 yielded fruitful results. This restructuring changed the counter-insurgency strategies by adopting an aggressive posture, effective command and control, efficient use of weapon and logistics with particular attention to the welfare of the troops.

“Hence, not less than 1,009 Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered voluntarily to troops while 1,140 others have been arrested. Another 1,500 Boko Haram terrorists are under investigation.”

Azeez