Posted by Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Tukur Buratai says that President Major-Muhammadu Buhari has kept his promise to stop terrorist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province.
Buratai said this in an interview with reporters in Abuja. He said that the President had promised to stop terrorist groups in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015.
But the former COAS said it was wrong to think that getting rid of the Boko Haram terrorists meant the end of all fighting.
He said that there would be no more fighting until terrorist groups agreed to give up their ideas, support democracy, respect the national constitution, and stick to peace.
Buratai said that the President had clear plans from the moment he took office to stop the terrorists and bring peace back to the Northeast and Nigeria as a whole.
He remembered that in his first speech as president, Buhari said, “The military command center will move to Maiduguri and stay there until Boko Haram is completely defeated.”
“I can say with full responsibility that the Buhari government has put an end to the Boko Haram uprising and terrorism.
“As his first Chief of Army Staff and the one who worked for him the longest, I think it’s my duty to tell Nigerians and the rest of the world the truth.”
He said that the president was well-prepared and knew everything there was to know about what caused the insurgency and terrorism.
Buratai said that the Boko Haram insurgency was able to start before 2015 because of mistakes, carelessness, apathy, and secret agreements.
He also said that this made Boko Haram a scary group that killed tens of thousands of people, took over several towns and villages, and took over large parts of Nigerian territory.
“This is a true summary of the armed uprising by Boko Haram.
“It is clear that the police did not follow the law when they killed Muhammad Yusuf.
“Negligence, complacency, and selfish cooperation with the people who started and led the Boko Haram insurgency made it grow into a full-fledged nightmare,” he said.