Boko Haram has been technically defeated, Buratai insists

Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, says Boko Haram remains technically defeated.

He said while speaking with journalists after a meeting with Ibrahim Gaidam, governor of Yobe state, in Damaturu, the state capital.

“They will continue to remain technically defeated and they will never be as strong as they were previously,” he said.

The military claimed victory over Boko Haram in December 2016 – when it announced that the insurgents had been defeated and on the run. But Boko Haram continued its attacks, and even becoming more audacious.

In July, Boko Haram attacked vehicles containing NNPC staff, oil experts and soldiers at Magumeri in Borno state, killing many members of the contingent.

The insurgents also kidnapped three of the oil experts who were on an exploratory survey of Lake Chad.

A day after, the army claimed that it had rescued all the NNPC staff, but Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum, said the corporation could not confirm if any of the kidnapped staff had been rescued.

The army later admitted that it passed false information to the public, which it said it regretted.

Following the incident, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the relocation of the service chiefs to the north-east.