Nigeria moves military command center to Boko Haram's stronghold

Nigeria on Monday moved its military control center to the city of Maiduguri, the heartland of Boko Haram's insurgency and capital of the northeastern state of Borno, to engage in the routing of the terror group in the West African country.

A statement by Col. Sani Usman, the acting spokesman for the country's army, said the movement of the military control command for counter-insurgency operation in the Nigeria's northeast states was in compliance to the order of President Muhammadu Buhari, during his inauguration on May 29.

The army statement said the center will serve as a forward command base for Nigeria's army chief and other military chiefs. "The center is essentially an elaboration of an already existing army headquarters and control arrangement. From now on, the fight against terrorism and insurgency would be monitored, coordinated and controlled from this center," the statement said.

According to the statement, Nigeria has code-named its operation against Boko Haram "Zaman Lafiya", meaning "peaceful living", when translated to the English language from the local Hause language.

"The establishment of the control command at the epicenter of Boko Haram would not create another layer of command structure but would add impetus and renewed vigor to the operation against insurgency," the army statement said, adding an alternate command center is also being established in Yola, the capital of neighboring Adamawa State.

Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states have been most-hit by the insurgency of Boko Haram which started its mindless killings in 2009. More than 13,000 people, including women and children, have been killed as the group seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the African most populous country. Endi