Ending the Boko Haram insurgency is not as easy as President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime had thought, says Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi.

Mr Magashi said this at the 15th International Security Conference and Award (ISCA) organised by the International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS) on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Buhari and the ruling party, APC, had vowed to crush Boko Haram while campaigning during the 2015 presidential election. Since the former dictator assumed power, terrorist attacks have continued to worsen.

“Terrorism, as we all know, is always enduring. Ending it may not be as quick as one may expect. I can assure you, however, that we are on top of the situation, and in the shortest possible time, all these challenges will become a thing of the past,” Mr Magashi said.

The minister was represented by the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Maj.-Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, at the event.

Mr Magashi said the renewed onslaught was yielding results with the recent arrest of the terrorists behind the June 5 attack at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo.

The minister said over 70,000 terrorists and their families had surrendered to troops in the North-East, and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons had returned to their homes.

He added that troops had been deployed on the Abuja-Kaduna highway on 24-hour patrols, and Operation Forest Sanity had been launched in the North-Central and North-West to comb the forests.

He reiterated the determination of the military and other security agencies to rid the South-East, South-South and South-West of armed gangs trying to destabilise the polity. According to him, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)’s activities are checkmated, including crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and piracy.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, has promised Igbos and other residents in the South-East that security forces will deal with IPOB, ESN and unknown gunmen to ensure that the 2023 general election is peaceful in the region.

The region has witnessed violent attacks on government facilities, especially INEC offices and workers. The police chief also assured residents in the region that plans were underway to ensure elections were held.

“We are brainstorming together to fashion out ways to deal with existing and emerging security threats headlong within the South-East. “We are working relentlessly on the goal of ensuring that election holds in the South-East and people’s votes are secured, and it will definitely count,” the IGP assured. 

Mr Baba added, “It is clear that with robust synergy, cooperation and joint operations, this area will be the most peaceful and our people will surely come out to exercise their civic responsibility.”

Mr Baba, represented by Assistant Inspector General of Police Isaac Akinmoyede, spoke during the opening of the ‘South-East 2023 Elections Security Management Workshop’ on Saturday in Enugu.

Ex-IGP Solomon Arase said the workshop was for all security agencies and formations in the South-East to get them ready to ensure security ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“Security agencies have gathered here on how to study trends and patterns of crimes before and during elections and how to effectively deal with it in a holistic and collaborative manner,” he said.

The police commissioner in Enugu, Abubakar Lawal, stressed that the 2023 election will hold, “and we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that.” 

“Our people should not entertain any fear or any opinion in the contrary,” added Mr Lawal.

The workshop was attended by the army, air force, navy, police, SSS and NSCDC. Other security agencies involved in the programme were the Nigeria Correctional Service, immigration, customs, fire service and NDLEA, among others.

The inspector general organised the workshop to further build the capacity of security agencies and their personnel on election security. 

(NAN)