The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has stated that he is still on his stance of 2015 about Boko Haram being technically defeated.
Lai Mohammed made this known when he paid a visit to the new corporate headquarters of The Sun Newspaper.
Fielding questions from newsmen, Lai Mohammed said:
“I stand by what I said that Boko Haram is technically defeated.
“What we are having today is global terrorism where you have the ISIS, ISWAP Al-qaeda all working together.
“Terrorism is a global issue. Between 2009 and 2015 we were fighting Boko Haram, but today we are fighting global terrorism where the remnants of the Army in Syria are now joining hands with the ISWAP and others,” he said.
He added that his 2015 statement of Boko Haram being technically defeated was due to what was on the ground during a tour he had with journalists.
“I was on ground in Bama, Konduga and Maiduguri and I know what I saw before I made that claim.
“By the time we get more platforms and the new helicopters that are being expected there will be tremendous improvement.
The minister went n to urge the newspaper platform to ensure it continues to support the government in its fight against fake news and hate speech.
“Fake news and hate speech pose imminent threat to the survival of the nation’s existence.
“The purveyors of Siamese twins of evil must be checkmated and government will continue to engage to end the menace.
“We expect you to remain in the vanguard of the efforts to tackle fake news and hate speech.
“We expect you to educate our people on the efforts being made, especially by the government, in this regard.
“This administration has no intention of muzzling the media or stifling free speech.
“Our campaign is against fake news and hate speech. And we will not rest until our media space has been rid of fake news and hate speech,” he said.
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