The Nigerian military is close to completely defeating Islamist Boko Haram militants, President Muhammadu Buhari has told theBBC.He said the militants could no longer mount conventional attacks against security forces or population centres."I think, technically, we have won the war," he said.The president has given the army until the end of the month to defeat Boko Haram, whose six-year insurgency has devastated north-eastern Nigeria.But the BBC's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi in the capital, Abuja, says that the deadline is likely tobe extended as Boko Haram is still bombing areasdespite losing towns under its control.Critics of the government argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.The insurgency is said to have killed some 17,000 people and left more than two million homeless.The jihadists have been forced to cut back on suicide bombings as a result of the military action against them, President Buhari said."Boko Haram has reverted to using improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," he said. "They have now been reduced to that.""Boko Haram is an organised fighting force, I assure you, [but] we have dealt with them."He said the militants had all but been driven outfrom Adamawa and Yobe states and remained aforce only in its heartland of Borno state."They cannot now marshal forces and attack towns or attack military installations and so on as they did before."I don't think this is mad talking."The president said that Nigeria had reorganised and reequipped the military. which had receivedtraining from the British, the Americans and theFrench."A lot is being done," he said.
N igerians must move on together as a breakup is not an option, former Senate President, David Mark, said on Friday. “Those who are agitating for otherwise are missing the point. Nigeria has crossed many crucibles. We cannot reverse ourselves,” Mr. Mark told Kaduna State Acting Governor, Alhaji Aminu Shagali, in Kaduna. He was at the head of a delegation of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) 3rd Regular Course Alumni Association on a courtesy visit to the acting governor. “The only option is to move on in a manner that is progressive, peaceful and united,” he was further quoted as saying by his media aide, Paul Mumeh. “We may have our disagreements. But a breakup is not an option. We can resolve our differences through meaningful dialogue and genuine conversation." “There is no use heating up the polity,” the ex-Senate president added. He noted that no matter the imperfections, the nation is greater and better as an indivisible country.
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