The Northern Youth Network has commended the Nigerian military over the tremendous successes it has recorded in the renowned determination to put an end to the activities of ISWAP/ BokoHaram, banditry and criminality in the country in the past one month.
The Convener of the group, Mallam Abdulrahman Ahmed sent the commendation in a press release at the end of the meeting of the group in Abuja.
Ahmed maintained that for over four weeks now, following the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Nigerian military to “show no mercy “, the military has deployed more might against enemies of the country.
Mallam Abdulrahman particularly commended the DSS, the DIA and NIA for their precision in intelligence gathering, evaluation and swift action.
He maintained that since ISWAP / BokoHaram and bandits have employed gorilla warfare, it takes proper intelligence gathering to win the war.
” In this direction, the DSS, DIA and NIA have done tremendous well and recorded no mean success recently”.
The Northen Youth Network stated that within this period, many bandits camps in the forests in the lake Chad, Kaduna, Zamfara Niger, Yobe and Borno states have fallen to the Nigerian military,
“Many have been completely destroyed and several bandits leaders killed and arrested. Many have surrendered to the Nigerian military. There has been sustained military patrol along the Abuja- Kaduna road which was becoming impassable.
“Many Ammunition suppliers, informants and collaborators have been arrested. Within these weeks there has been relative calm, without any major attack from BokoHaram or bandits. This is made possible by the determination of the Nigerian military”..
Mallam Abdulrahman Ahmed called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sustain his support to the Nigerian military especially the intelligence gathering units as modern day security rests on intelligence gathering and maintain his determination to get rid of all forms of security threats to the country.
“President Buhari must be commended for purchase of modern military hardware for the Nigerian Army”.
Mallam Abdulrahman however decried the actions of the Nigerian media and press who prefer to report and magnify attacks by BokoHaram and bandits when ever they happen but remain silent or give very poor publicity to the successes by the security forces. According to him “such actions embolden the bandits and weaken citizen support for the security forces. It makes the citizens to lose hope and give up thinking that the war cannot be won. Citizens must continue to provide timely information to security forces as these bandits and criminals live in the communities”.
The Northen Youth Network encourages the Nigerian military especially the DSS, DIA and NIA to sustain the level of intelligence gathering which has led to the success recorded by the Security forces. The group concluded that The efforts of these intelligence units is the reason for the decimation of BokoHaram and banditry in the country. With this vigor, the end to the activities of ISWAP / BokoHaram, banditry is not just in sight but it has come.