‘Tough time awaits Boko Haram in 2019’

Concerned Professionals’ Congress (CPC) has declared that notwithstanding the recent Boko Haram’s attacks in the North East, 2019 will be a very tough year for the sect and its international affiliates, the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The group expressed confidence that the re-invigorated counter-terrorism initiative sealed two weeks ago by the Summit of Heads of States and Governments of Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) has reinvigorated and re-positioned Operation Lafiya Dole and the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) towards bringing the war to a definitive end very soon.

In a joint statement in Abuja, the group’s Chief Media Strategist, Mr. Emeka Nwankpa and the Northern East Regional Rapporteur, Mallam Baba Al-Kasim, said that nothing best illustrated the warning signs to the terrorists than the surprise working visit on Sunday by the Chief of Defence (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin to the theatre of war in Maiduguri to assess the revised war strategy.

The group expressed optimism that the CDS-led team, comprising the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas was particularly pleased with the courage and doggedness of the Allied forces and troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in the face of recent series of desperate attacks by ISWAP-backed terrorists.   

‘’The implication of all these rapid events is that the days ahead will be tough for Boko Haram. The year 2019 will be tough for Boko Haram and its foreign affiliates. 

The dynamics of the war is taking a new turn because of the fresh moves made by the president as the current chairman of LCBC and the fresh dynamism of the military.

‘’The renewed resolutions and the assurances by the Ministers and Chiefs of Defence Staff of the member-countries such as Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Central African Republic and Cameroon to re-charge the counter-insurgency strategy are sufficient indications that the days of Boko Haram and its collaborators are numbered’’, Nwankpa said.

The group said that the new counter-terrorism push characterised by the successful high-level diplomatic shuttles by the President to Ndjamena, the capital of Chad where he met with the leaders of Chad, Niger and Cameroon and the summit of the sub-regional leaders in Abuja will change the dynamics of the war in the coming months of 2019.

Mr. Nwankpa also said that President Buhari’s recent physical presence in Maiduguri to see the troops at the frontlines especially after the November 18 attack on army location in Metele went a long way to set the stage for a game change.

The group described the working visit of the CDS-led team of service chiefs as a loaded quit notice to Boko Haram just as it was a good tonic to the courageous troops.

It maintained that the fresh call to arms by the Buhari-led Summit of Heads and Governments of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and the backing of the Ministers and Chiefs of Defence Staff of the member-countries consisting of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Central African Republic and Cameroon indicated Boko Haram and its collaborators were endangered.

‘’The latest Boko Haram attacks are a response to the increased pressure by the troops.  

The pressure will further increase when the five sub-regional leaders launch their collective strength into the war. Our nation is blessed with a military with the right spirit and soul to fight.

‘’They have tied the noose round the desperate criminals. Attention has shifted from the Central and South Borno to the North where Boko Haram gets supplies so they are very desperate. Our troops and the Allied forces are inching closer to the Lake Chad Basin. The days ahead are brighter for the nation’’, Nwankpa said.

The group urged Nigerians irrespective of race, region, religion or political leaning to close ranks and fully support the military and other security forces to confront Boko Haram and other non-state actors to achieve peace, unity, stability and sovereignty of the nation.

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