The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, has tasked the people of Borno and Yobe to take ownership of the fight against Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists as a way forward.
The general insisted that some members of the communities in both states chose to be complicit by sabotaging the ongoing military operations in the region.
CDS stated this in an interview with newsmen shortly after a four-hour closed-door meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. WWaidi Shaibu, the Theatre Commander North East Operation HADIN KAI, Maj.-Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, alongside very senior military officers in Maiduguri on Wednesday.
Oluyede said that credible intelligence at his disposal revealed that most of the people perpetrating the killings and destruction in the last 15 years of the Boko Haram crises were allegedly from the affected states.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CDS and others were in Borno under the President Bola Tinubu’s directive that they must relocate to Maiduguri, the Borno state capital to nip in the bud the renewed and rising cases of Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks and bombings.
“We are here to review our strategies in the fight against Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in the North East.
“As you are aware, in the last month, there were attacks launched by terrorists which is their usual tactic during the holy month of Ramadan.
“But these challenges are not new as we are on top of the situation.
Unfortunately, most of the people perpetrating these heinous acts are from these states. They are our brothers, sisters and cousins. We know them.
“Let me give you an example, when Kukawa was attacked, while we were conducting a cordoned search afterwards, we discovered that two of the wounded terrorists were inside that village, that means the people were accomplices.
“Therefore, the people in these two states, Borno and Yobe must take ownership in this war,” Oluyede stated.
On the new tactics used by terrorists to launch attacks using drones and other technological weapons, the CDS insisted that, the military was aware and currently on top of the situation, as the Nigerian military is now adopting German Drones.
