Boko Haram ousted from its last stronghold - Buhari

Nigeria’s army has captured a key Boko Haram camp that was the Islamist militant group’s last enclave in its northeastern Sambisa forest stronghold, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Saturday.

Buhari said “the terrorists are on the run and no longer have a place to hide.”

The Islamists’ camp fell at 13:35 local time (12:35 GMT) on Friday, he added.

Nigerian military has in recent weeks been carrying out a large-scale offensive in the Sambisa forest, a vast former colonial game reserve that has been the group’s base.

Boko Haram declared loyalty to Islamic State in 2015 and has been seeking to establish an Islamic caliphate in north east Nigeria.

At one point the Islamists controlled a region almost the size of Belgium.

The militants seven year insurgency has left more than 20,000 people dead and another 2 million others displaced in the region.