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Regional forces weakens Boko Haram activities: Nigerian defense chief

Xinhua, February 22, 2017 Adjust font size:

Terrorist activities have been on the decline thanks to combined efforts of member states of Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Nigeria's defense chief said Tuesday.

Abayomi Olonisakin revealed this in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, at the opening of a three-day meeting of experts of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) member states and Benin.

He urged the MNJTF to intensify operations to tackle remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists.

According to him, the dislodging of the sect from their various strongholds in Nigeria had led to its dispersal and resultant sporadic attacks in the MNJTF Area of Responsibility (AOR).

Olonisakin said that this was an attempt by the terrorists "to survive and possibly regroup.''

The defense chief said other instruments of national power are also being applied by individual member states and jointly as a commission, while the military approach to containing terrorism is critical and on-going.

Lamidi Adeosun, Commander of the MNJTF, said though the terrorists had been routed from their enclaves, they had not been completely destroyed.

"They still move about in splinter and wreck some havoc," Adeosun said, calling for new strategies to remove the remaining vestiges of their capabilities.

He added that the security situation in member states of the commission was improving "but we are not yet there.''

The commander also said that one of the priorities of the MNJTF now was how to resettle civilians who had been displaced by years of insurgency back to their locations.

The three-day meeting is aimed at addressing the serious security threats in member states under the umbrella of the MNJTF.

The MNJTF was established in 1998 for the conduct of joint military operations within the Lake Chad Region.

The military operations included flushing out rebels and other undesirable elements from the Lake Chad Basin countries and to facilitate free movement of citizens of the LCBC member states across their common borders.

Boko Haram, a militant group that has wreaked havoc through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions, is fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state. Endit