The Nigerian Armed Forces has insinuated that the December deadline given by President Muhammadu Buhari to flush out Boko Haram from the North East, may not be attainable.
On Monday, during a meeting with the president, the Service Chiefs stated that the war against Boko Haram was being hindered by bad weather and logistics.
Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, Abayomi Olonishakin spoke to journalists on behalf of the Service Chiefs after a Security meeting with President Buhari.
Olonishakin said: “It is a normal consultation to intimate him of the issues on ground we briefed him on the security situation on ground after a 60-day review and we had to brief him on the challenges we have and ensure that the mandate we have is properly delivered.
“Of course, the challenges we are looking at are the issues of probably the weather as it were and some other logistics that we feel we should have so that the mandate can be quickly delivered. He is very excited, very happy. As for our request, he gave the mandate.
When asked if an extension of the deadline was necessary, the Defence Chief retorted, saying: “We have not said that. The mandate is that we should clear Boko Haram from the occupied territories and ensure that we reclaim all the lost grounds. That is exactly what we are doing.”
“It is a military operation and military operations have time-lines and these time-lines, we are working on the assiduously”.
“When we get there, we will let you know. They have been involved in some capacity building and of course the tangible ones. But when we get there, we will let you know about it”.
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