Nigerian Army reiterates Boko Haram's defeat amid disagreement

Nigerian Army’s anti-Boko Haram operation commander Major General Lucky Irabor has reiterated that the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been defeated and does not have the capacity to attack.

The outgoing commander gave the assurance in reaction to a statement made by Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima over the weekend that the terrorist group was only “degraded” but not defeated.

“Boko Haram has been defeated. They no longer have the capacity to carry out the ferocious attacks on communities like they used to do in the past. Their logistics base has been taken out. They can no longer move in convoys and wreak havoc on communities,” Irabor was quoted by local media Vanguard.

He added that the operation against the group is to maintain peace as “peace is absolute right now. Peace is a state that is futuristic”.

The governor had said at an event in Abuja that the government had done “marvelously well in containing insurgency, but they have not been totally defeated anybody. Who told you so is economical with the truth”.

“But they have been degraded to such a level that they are no longer a threat to the corporate existence of this country,” he added.

President Muhammadu Buhari said last year that the army had defeated Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest.

The group immediately denied the claim in a video saying they are still strong and it’s not true they have run out of supplies.

Operation Lafiya Dole was created by the Nigerian Army to end the Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and rendered many homeless.

Major General Lucky Irabor has been replaced as Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole by Major General I Attahiru.

He is now the head of the Multi-National Joint Task Force against Boko Haram.