From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has told the military to go full scale onslaught and ensure that Boko Haram insurgents are crushed.
Obasanjo who spoke during a courtesy visit to Gov Kashim Shettima at the Maiduguri Government House yesterday as part of his two-day visit to the state ahead of the 40th anniversary and convocation ceremony of the University of Maiduguri, said combined efforts of the armed forces, other security agencies and the locals in affected Northeast states, were yielding results, urging the military to sustain and improve on the tempo to end the violence activities.
While giving thumb up to the Nigerian military, saying it was winning the war against Boko Haram, he also commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of the insurgency.
“There is no doubt that with the combined efforts at the local, state and federal levels; and even at the community level, our security forces are on the ascendancy over the forces of destruction, the menace and dangers of Boko Haram insurgency that we have experienced for almost six years now,” he said. Obasanjo who said the nation had gone through darkest period of Boko Haram insurgency, charged the authority not to allow the experience pass without recourse to detail documentation. He urged the Federal Government to do “proper research, documentation, articulation and dissemination of the Boko Haram insurgency” so as to draw great lessons from the crisis and not have a repeat of similar insurrection or violent sect again.
He also said the visit of men of goodwill to the state now was a good development as it would assist the state move away from its ugly experience quickly.
“The more we have men of good will coming to Maiduguri, the better because people will start realizing that things are changing for the better and the situation is improving. Our military are ascending on the militants and whenever they recaptured the territories once occupied by Boko Haram terrorists, land mines planted by the terrorist, should be cleared completely before people return to such communities,” he said.
He said the people of Borno and the Northeast have suffered a lot of tragedies following Boko Haram “mass killing, abduction of single and married women, recruitment of child soldiers and wanton destructions of economic activities.”
He expressed hope that there would be light at the end of the dark tunnel.
Gov Shettima in his reaction commended Obasanjo for his “blunt patriotism, naked gut and courage of conviction.”
He said the ex-president dared precarious insecurity to visit Maiduguri to initiate peace move through the late Alhaji Baba Fugu’s family, in-law to the slain Boko Haram leader, Muhammed Yusuf at the heat of insurgency.