Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) has revealed why the Nigerian army is slow in defeating Boko Haram terrorists.
The COAS who faulted the terrorists for making the army look inefficient, stated that the insurgents have adopted a new tactic.
According to him, Boko Haram has succeeded in infiltrating several communities in the North east region. They have blended in with the unsuspecting residents of the communities, appearing to lead normal lives whereas they are undercover agents gathering intelligence on their neighbours.
Buratai made the revelation during an interview with Daily Trust.
“Insurgency is not what you defeat and it would just fizzle out; they would revert to other tactics. That is terrorism,”
“They will promote propaganda, to the effect that all the institutions of government would be seen to be ineffective. This is what they are doing. They are exploiting the fault lines in our economic and political endeavours to expand the gulf of so-called discord and acrimony amongst various ethnic and religious groups.”
“Why are they doing this propaganda, blocking the road and capturing individuals because they are of a particular religion? Unfortunately, they murder those individuals and send it to the world. These are propaganda strategies of the terrorists.”
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“These individuals may be living with you and you would not know they are terrorists. They have a series of informants and logistics suppliers. They have a series of leadership strata that live in the communities and towns nearby. They pass information and organise those that are hidden along the borders in remote areas or communities who come, attack and go back. They also have a series of recruiters.”