Minister of Informational
and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed addressed a press conference on
the successes recorded by the Nigerian military and other security agencies in
the anti-Boko Haram war, in Abuja, yesterday, he said due process would be
followed in bringing those behind the terrorists to book.
His words: “The dilemma of
government is how to redress the past wrong.
What I want to assure you is that nobody, who is responsible for this
situation either by sponsoring Boko Haram or stealing our resources, will go
unpunished. That I can assure you but we
will follow due process.”
Reacting to the Federal
Government’s seeming lack of commitment to bringing Boko Haram suspects to
book, as has been the case in Chad where they are usually summarily tried,
condemned and killed, Mohammed said that the legal system in Nigeria was different
and that the authorities would not want any innocent person killed in that
process.
His words: “Our legal
regime is different. I can assure you that it is not in the interest of the
military to protect Boko Haram because they are the first victims of the
activities of the insurgents.”
The minister absolved those
in the current government of sponsoring or supporting Boko Haram terrorists in
any way, as according to him, “nobody in this government will hide a Boko
Haranm suspect.”
He said all Nigerians did
not only owe the Nigerian military and other security agencies a debt of
gratitude for the enormous sacrifices and commitment in the fight against Boko
Haram but also needed to own the war on terror.
According to him, the
terrorists’ attacks on Bama were extremely sobering, disclosing that none of
the 6,000 houses in that North Eastern town was standing when his team visited
last weekend.
The minister disclosed that
the project of re-building Bama would commence in January with about 41,000
housing units.
He added that in the case
of Konduga, the Borno State had rebuilt
the town on three occasions but that on each occasion, the town was re-taken by
the Boko Haram elements and destroyed.
Military still looking for
Chibok girls
Reacting to growing
disappointment of members of the public in the Federal Government’s failure to
re-unite the abducted Chibok girls with their parents over six months into this
administration, Mohammed said the military was still searching for them.
“The military is leaving no
stone unturned up till now. Right now, the military is undertaking major
onslaughts,” he said.
According to the minister,
the alleged arms deal fraud negatively impacted on the war against Boko Haram
but that the troops and their officers were now adequately motivated to bring
decimate Boko Haram this month to the extent that they would no longer be able
to hold any territory.
No comments:
Post a Comment