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Babangida Lauds Intensified Fight Against Boko Haram

Former military President, Ibrahim Babangida has applauded the ongoing military operation in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, describing the declaration of emergency in the three … Continue reading Babangida Lauds Intensified Fight Against Boko Haram


Former military President, Ibrahim Babangida

Former military President, Ibrahim Babangida has applauded the ongoing military operation in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, describing the declaration of emergency in the three north eastern states as appropriate in order to save the country from both internal and external attack.

Former military President, Ibrahim Babangida

Mr Babangida was speaking to Channels Television in Kaduna at the Turbaning ceremony of the former minister of defence, Theophilous Danjuma.

He said military intervention became necessary in order to save the country from being hijacked by the boko haram insurgents who have destabilized the peace of the country and the north in particular for too long.

President Goodluck Jonathan last month declared states of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the three hardest hit by the insurgency.
He said more troops would “immediately” be deployed to the areas.

Mr Jonathan made a similar move in January last year following a spate of Boko Haram attacks, but in that case the decree only applied to specific local government areas in four states.

When former President Olusegun Obasanjo invoked the measure twice in 2004 and 2006, he removed democratically elected governors and installed appointed administrators to manage the states, both former military officers.

Mr Jonathan vowed that he would not employ that measure.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which the group says is aimed at creating an Islamic state in the country’s mainly Muslim north, has cost some 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

But a series of recent brazen attacks have raised concerns that insurgents have become emboldened, with Mr Jonathan saying that the latest violence amounted to “a declaration of war”.