It said that though they are trying, there were some situations on ground making it difficult to flush out from their hideouts, members of the Boko Haram sect, who have massacred innocent people and massively destroyed property in the North Eastern part of the country; adding that the situation was a complex one.
It said the security forces were constrained by international conventions which prevent them from pursuing terrorists to foreign countries, while the civilian settlements are also co-located within the vicinity of the insurgents' hideouts, making selective engagement tenuous and difficult.
The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said that what is in place today is a guerrilla warfare and not a conventional one. Okupe, who noted that it was not true that the insurgents were better armed than the Nigerian armed forces, however, accused the international community of fuelling the continued actions of the insurgents in some parts of the country, adding that it was wrong for anyone in the country to say that the country's military cannot face the insurgents.
Okupe affirmed that the Nigerian armed
forces were up to the task of fully containing the Boko Haram guerrilla
warfare even though it has been constrained by international
conventions. Okupe called on all national leaders to co-operate with the
government and the military in solving the problem.
According to Okupe: "We note the recent attacks by Boko Haram
insurgents in Borno State and some comments about them in the media by
some leading Nigerians. For the avoidance of doubt and with ample
evidence on the ground, we state that the Nigerian Armed Forces and
security agencies are on top of the situation."The orchestration of mayhem by the insurgents is the result of their dislodgment from their strongholds and hideouts in the mountainous forest areas of Borno State.
"In recent times, these areas have been heavily bombed aerially by the Nigerian Air Force and combed systematically by ground troops.
"If the insurgents have not been completely routed, it is due to the fact that our Armed Forces are severely constrained because of the fact that civilian settlements are also co-located in this vicinity making selective engagement tenuous and difficult if heavy civilian casualty is to be avoided.
"The public will note that following serious dislocation of the insurgents from their hideouts, the new trend is for them, after sporadic attacks, which are usually launched at night, to quickly cross over to neigbouring countries for safety.
"The Nigerian military is prevented from pursuing them into these foreign territories by law and international conventions and this obviously gives continuous respite to the insurgents.
"We must note that as far back as over 12 months ago, the fighting machinery of the insurgents had suffered major decapitation. They have, therefore, resorted almost exclusively, to attacking soft targets such as schools, women and children and sleeping communities in the early hours of the morning.
"Most of the villages attacked are those like Kauri, Izge and Konduga, which are generally situated along the foot of the Gwoza Mountains, which stretches from Nigeria to the Cameroon.
"The obvious location of these villages close to the mountains affords the insurgents opportunity and facility to launch strikes at night and sneak back across the border into neighbouring countries. But the Nigerian military and security agencies have taken up this challenge and, like every facet of this struggle, will put an end to these incursions in the shortest possible time.
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