President Muhammadu Buhari has once again said the terrorist group Boko Haram has been degraded and is no longer in control of any part of Nigeria.
The President said this in Abuja, the nation’s capital, on Thursday at the 2018 World Congress of the International Press Institute, which had the theme ‘Why Good Journalism Matters’.
Addressing participants at the Congress which he attended with ministers and other top government officials, the President observed that the event is taking place during a tough period for the world.
“Your annual congress is holding in Nigeria during a period of global terrorism. Nigeria experiences that scourge through Boko Haram which has been technically degraded and has no territorial hold anywhere anymore in its North-East operational base,” he said.
After years of battling Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, the Federal Government has limited the attacks which extended to the nation’s capital at the height of the insurgency.
Beyond informing participants about the current state of the war against insurgency in the country, the President provided an update on recent developments in the North East.
“Internally displaced persons are gradually returning to their communities in reasonable safety and security,” he said.
Border Security
Government officials, including President Buhari, had partly blamed the influx of firearms into the country and the strength of Boko Haram during the peak of the insurgency to the Libyan crisis.
As a result, the Buhari administration which came to power promising to tackle security, fight corruption and boost the economy had taken some steps to tighten security around the border, including partnering with neighbouring countries.
The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, who was also at the Congress, defended the government’s performance in tackling security challenges.
Although he said, there is still much to do as Nigeria cannot guarantee security along the borders on its own, the minister rated the efforts so far made by government excellent.
When asked to rate the performance of the Federal Government in checking Nigeria’s porous borders on a scale of one to 10, the minister rated the government a 10.
Dambazau said, “This is a difficult thing you are giving me because when you are talking about border security and management it involves so many things. That is one.
“Secondly, from what I have said, it isn’t something that is left to Nigeria alone. It is a regional problem that we are working very closely with our neighbouring countries on.
“In our own efforts, I will tell you 10/10.”
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