The spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina says there is no need to worry over the Boko Haram insurgents swapped with 82 Chibok girls.
Adesina said this on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television program when he was asked to respond to security concerns raised over the release of the Boko Haram suspects.
He said though there were pockets of attacks in the north-east, the region is secure under the control of the security agencies.
“When there is ability and capacity to ensure security there is no need to worry, the north-east is under the effective control of the security agencies,” he said.
“I know there are pockets of attacks here and there but in terms of is the area secure? Yes. We know it is secure.”
He described the recent attacks carried out by the insurgents as the “last kicks of a dying horse”.
“This is a conjecture and there is no truth in it, the [attacks are] talks of the last kicks of a dying horse, that it was what you saw,” Adesina said.
“There are factions. I’m sure when those 21 girls were released, a faction must have been pissed and they decided to strike with some ferocity after that.”
When asked why the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement has not been part of the rehabilitation process of the girls, Adesina said: “The rehabilitation is a government responsibility. But that does not mean that non-governmental organisations can’t be involved. I don’t think BBOG is poised for that. That is not why they are set up.
“BBOG from inception has been doing a very good job and till now they are still doing a good job let’s give them kudos for what they have done but let them also stay within the ambit of what they were set up to do.”
The Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had described the swap deal as a setback to the fight against the insurgency.
In a statement, Dayo Adeyeye, spokesman of the faction, said their release was an opportunity for them to resume attacks on the society.
The spokesman said many of them would recruit members that would be used as suicide bombers.
“While we welcome the release of the girls, we do not think that exchanging innocent girls for hardened criminals like the terrorists is the right approach for the following reasons,” Adeyeye had said in a statement.
“The release of the terrorists is a setback for the war on insurgency. Their release is tantamount to releasing them to resume their war against society. Many of them could find their ways back to the terrorist camps from where they could unleash terror against the country.
“The piecemeal release of the girls means the terrorists want to extract more concessions from the government which in the end can only prolong the insurgency.”