Tuesday, August 08, 2017

Military Determined to Wipe Out Remnants of Boko Haram – Minister
Aug 7 2017 6:42PM
Nigeria Daily Trust

Defence minister, Retired Brigadier General Mansur Dan-Ali.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, on Monday reaffirmed the determination of the military to completely wipe out remnants of Boko Haram in the the country.

Dan-Ali gave the assurance during an award presentation by the Borno chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) at the NUJ’s Combined Press Week in Maiduguri.

Dan-Ali was presented with a Platinum Award of Honour by Gov. Kashim Shettima on behalf of the NUJ for the military’s efforts at restoring peace in the North-East.

“I am really happy and honoured to be in Borno once again and to receive an award for my ministry.

“I want to thank the organisers of the programme for recognising the efforts of my ministry toward restoring peace and unity in Borno in particular and Nigeria in general.

“Let me use this opportunity to condole the Borno State Government on the sad incident of July 25 at Magumeri where oil exploration teams were ambushed along with the Military.

“Civilian Joint Task Force, University staff and some oil workers were killed, while some were held in Boko Haram captivity.

“I want to assure that this won’t bring any setbacks to our troops as we are determined more than ever before to completely clear the remnants of Boko Haram in our nation.

“I have ordered the Ministry of Defence to carry out thorough investigation on the attack to establish if there is a possibility of the locals and the insurgents who perpetrated the attack.

“Provision of security is not only the responsibility of the military and other security agencies, rather it is a collective responsibility of all.

“Therefore, all stakeholders must play an important role.

“I also want to extend our appreciation to the NUJ Borno Chapter for its unbiased report on the campaign against Boko Haram.

“Your sense of patriotism and commitment has contributed immensely to the successes of the war against insurgency.

“However, despite all the successes recorded, the negative reports from some media organisations is highly uncharitable and unpatriotic. These negative reports have really dampened the morale of our fighting troops.

“We, therefore, urged the media to emulate the journalists reporting professionally in Borno. They must rise up and place the unity of Nigeria above all parochial sentiments.

“I, will, therefore make a passionate call to religious clerics and political leaders to intervene in establishing dialogue with the aggrieved parties to enable us to bring peace to our nation,” Dan-Ali said.

The President of the NUJ, Abdulwaheed Odusile, commended the military for restoring relative peace in the North-East.

“I was in Maiduguri in September 2016, when I went back, I told my friends that I stayed out until 1 a.m. and they couldn’t believe me.

“What we have been doing in Borno shows that we are patriotic and determined to keep the peace,” Odusile said. (NAN)

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