Chief of Army Staff Tukur Yusuf Buratai has predicted that terrorism may persist for another 20 years.

The comments came at the time Nigerians are still mourning the massacre of dozens of farmers killed by Boko Haram last weekend. Several others are still missing in the attack in Zabarmari, Borno State, with the United Nations fearing at least 110 killed.

Mr. Buratai and other service chiefs have faced calls to either resign or be fired from office. But the army chief on his Facebook page said only Nigerians can contain the lingering insecurity.

 “There is general misunderstanding of what insurgency and terrorism entail. There is likelihood of terrorism persisting in Nigeria for another 20 years. It only depends on the level of escalation and the appropriate responses by all stakeholders both civil and military authorities,” Mr. Buratai said on December 1. 

“Also by both local and international actors. Citizens responsibility is equally important and imperative. All must cooperate to contain the lingering insecurity. Let there be collective action and
responsibility,” he added. 

Boko Haram has carried out its deadly campaign against Nigerians since 2009, terrorising vast swathes of northern parts of the country. Eleven years on, Nigerian civil and military authorities have been largely helpless at containing the insurgency, which security experts warned had mutated into an asymmetrical warfare.