Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has denied media reports that President Buhari said that the war against Boko Haram insurgency is over.
Speaking on Channels TV, Adesina said that President Buhari’s commendation message to the military over the capture of Boko Haram’s enclave in Sambisa forest on Christmas day, never included any statement where he said that the war against the insurgents was over.
“If you look at the President word-for-word, there is no place you will see him say that (the victory) signposts the defeat of the Boko Haram, no! It’s an interpretation by the press. What the President did was to congratulate the military for taking over the last camp of the Boko Haram which is called camp zero. What that effectively means is that Sambisa forest which was like the last stronghold of the Boko Haram has been effectively taken over by the military,” he said Adesina stressed that despite the capture of Boko Harams enclave, the war against the insurgents isn’t over “There will always be bitter enders at any given time. Even as Sambisa forest has been taken over, you will still find some elements who will continue to fight and they will be taken out eventually. This kind of war is not one that at a point you will say because Sambisa has been taken over, its over for now, no! It is over when we stop having strikes and attacks,” he said