There are indications the Boko Haram insurgents are waxing stronger in the North Eastern region and have captured five local government areas in Yobe and Borno States.
This was confirmed by the governors of the affected states, Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe and Kashim Shettima of Borno, This Day reports.
According to the National Economic Council (NEC), who spoke to state house correspondents after their meeting in Abuja, Shettima and Gaidam told them the insurgents were still hiding in Sambisa forest.
The governors were said to have called for increased military deployment and provision of sophisticated military equipment in those areas.
In his remarks, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who presided over the meeting, regretted that the insurgency had affected the economic life of the North-east and the country as a whole.
He therefore called on the council to speak as a team and put pressure on the service chiefs to increase their effort in battling the Boko Haram insurgency.
This disclosure was a disappointing departure from what the Nigerian military and the neighbouring armies of Chad, Cameroun and Niger accomplished in the last months of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.
The troops had recaptured all the territories occupied by the insurgents and had them on the run before Jonathan handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.
Since Buhari took over power, the insurgents have renewed their attacks. There have been suicide bomb attacks almost on a daily basis and hundreds of people have been killed in less than two months.
On July 22, multiple bomb blasts rocked Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, killing no fewer than 36 people.
This was confirmed by the governors of the affected states, Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe and Kashim Shettima of Borno, This Day reports.
According to the National Economic Council (NEC), who spoke to state house correspondents after their meeting in Abuja, Shettima and Gaidam told them the insurgents were still hiding in Sambisa forest.
The governors were said to have called for increased military deployment and provision of sophisticated military equipment in those areas.
In his remarks, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who presided over the meeting, regretted that the insurgency had affected the economic life of the North-east and the country as a whole.
He therefore called on the council to speak as a team and put pressure on the service chiefs to increase their effort in battling the Boko Haram insurgency.
This disclosure was a disappointing departure from what the Nigerian military and the neighbouring armies of Chad, Cameroun and Niger accomplished in the last months of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.
The troops had recaptured all the territories occupied by the insurgents and had them on the run before Jonathan handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.
Since Buhari took over power, the insurgents have renewed their attacks. There have been suicide bomb attacks almost on a daily basis and hundreds of people have been killed in less than two months.
On July 22, multiple bomb blasts rocked Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, killing no fewer than 36 people.
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