The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office of West Africa (UNOWA), Dr Ibn Chambas says though progress has been made in flushing out militant group, Boko Haram, they still pose a threat to the sub-region.
Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency has killed about 20,000 people and displaced more than two million in its effort to create a state with strict Islamic laws.
Dr. Chambas told host of 3FM’s Sunrise, Winston Amoah Thursday that Boko Haram, which operates largely from Nigeria, still demonstrates a high capacity of nuisance and high violence of killings.
“There has been tremendous progress made at a number of levels, first at the level of coordination of the military fight against Boko Haram,” he said.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari immediately after taking over power, with the help of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, initiated a number of actions, including the establishment of a multinational joint taskforce to flush out the insurgent group.
That, among other measures, Dr Chambas observed, helped in the progress made so far.
“You will find out that in Bono, Boko Haram used to control 23 of the 27 local government areas but today not a single local government area and most of the town, villages and communities have been liberated so there is that progress on the military side,” he said.
He, however, warned against complacency in the fight stating they still pose a great deal of threat to Nigeria and the countries within the West Africa sub region.
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