Nigeria to reopen major roads in restive Borno

The Nigerian government Sunday said it would formally re-open two major roads in the restive Borno State following the total defeat of Boko Haram in the northeast by the Nigerian military.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said in a statement that officials and dignitaries will grace the opening of the Maiduguri-Gubio-Damasak road and the Maiduguri-Mungono-Baga road.

The two major roads, which had earlier been closed due to the activities of the insurgents in the area, are of strategic importance to the economy of the Lake Chad Region.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said that troops in the northeast region have crushed Boko Haram terrorists in their last enclave in Sambisa forest.

The Sambisa forest, especially the mountainous region of Gwoza near the Cameroon border, had been used as a shelter by the group.

The Boko Haram seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and the biggest oil producer in the continent.

The Nigerian government said in December 2015 that Boko Haram had been "technically" defeated, was no longer capable of conventional warfare and instead resorted to guerrilla attacks.

Nigeria, with approximately 180 million population, shares land borders with Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east and Niger in the north. Enditem