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While the insurgence continues to rear its ugly head in North Eastern states Yobe and Borno in particular, President Goodluck Jonathan today said his administration has swilled out the Boko Haram insurgents from their enclave as he said it is now imperative for Nigerians to be alive to their security.
The President speaking through his Media Aide, Reuben Abati on a FRCN Network on, the president said that he commended the security agencies, especially the Armed Forced, for dismantling the terrorists and restoring the confidence of Nigerians in the Federal Government’s ability to protect their lives and property.
According to Abati, one major fallout of the emergency rule so far was the special focus of the government on border patrol and security as he added that the federal government is doing this in collaboration with neighboring countries.
Speaking further he said; “The first point to note is that before the declaration of the state of emergency, the situation in the affected states was really bad, socio-economic activities had practically ceased. There was anxiety in the communities and beyond the affected parts to all parts of Nigeria. On a regular basis, there were either cases of detonation of bombs or harassment of people. There was a state of fear. But since the declaration of the state of emergency by President Jonathan, a lot has been achieved. It was a very good tactical and strategic move, a very good demonstration of leadership determination and focus by this present administration.”
“Three months down the line, when you look at the affected places where the states of emergency were declared, the first thing you will note is that before then, the Boko Haram insurgents had carved out a part of Nigeria. They have created an enclave where they exercised authority, but they have since been flushed out by security agencies. I think the armed forces deserve a commendation for being able to achieve this. Socio-economic activities have resumed in the affected states, Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and people can now go about their normal businesses. The level of fear before the declaration of state of emergency in those affected states was really very high and even in the rest of the country, but that has gone down now,” Abati said.
Adding that; “What has happened is that there is now greater confidence; the confidence of the people in the capacity of the Federal Government and the Jonathan administration to fulfill the objective of securing lives and property had been restored. The level of confidence is now very high and I believe that is another great achievement. You will find out that in the affected states, there was curfew initially. But that curfew has been relaxed. There is no curfew again in Adamawa. In Yobe, the hours of curfew have been reduced and in Borno, the number of curfew hours has also been reduced.”
“More important in terms of success is the fact that the people themselves have taken ownership of the security process with youths in the area going out on their own and helping to identify persons they think have been involved in terrorism activities or criminal activities generally. That in itself is great because what it means is that there is overwhelming support for the decision of the president to declare a state of emergency. The emergency rule united almost all constituencies in Nigeria, everybody supported it. We saw that in spite of differences, Nigeria was really united to make sure that this country moves forward”.
