The Nigerian Army says it will not relent in its continuous efforts to clear terrorists from the North West region of the country.

The army said it has been giving the terrorists a tough time and the only option for them is to drop their arms and surrender to the troops

The General Officer Commanding 8 Division, Nigerian Army Sokoto, Major General Godwin Mutkut disclosed this to newsmen in Gusau, Zamfara State capital after Inaugurating RSM House at the 1 Brigade Cantonment.

He said the troops have been going to troubled places like Zurmi, Shinkafi, Tsafe, Dansadau and other troubled areas in Zamfara State in spite of the rainy season, dislodging the terrorists from their hideouts.

“Before now there are plenty places that we have not entered but as it is now, despite the rain we are going places where the bandits are not expecting, giving them bloody nose, if they want to survive, they should just surrender.”

General Mutkut added that the bandits are now hitting on soft targets especially on the sight of innocent citizens in the villages or Highways

He said, the military will not negotiate with the bandits but will rather go after them in their hideouts to eliminate, he advised that if the bandits want to survive from the hand of the troops, they should come out from their hideouts to surrender.

“Nobody negotiated with them before they entered the bush, now that the fire is hitting them, they want to negotiate, well I won’t call it negotiation, they should just come out and surrender, negotiation is a trap they have done it in the past and it did not yield any result, so why still repeating the same mistakes again.”

General Muktuk advised District Heads and communities in Zamfara State to form groups who will protect their communities when there is a distress call before the arrival of the troops in the troubled scene.

“For now, we have advised all the district heads that they should form groups that can protect them before the military come to assist in case of distress.”