The December deadline given to the Nigerian Army by president Mohammadu Buhari to completely rout out Boko Haram insurgents in the North east may not be feasible after all, as Service Chiefs on Monday told the president that their effort was being threatened by weather and logistics.
The Service Chiefs however did not specifically ask for extension of time.
Speaking to State House Correspondents on behalf of the Chiefs after a Security meeting with president Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja to brief him on the efforts of the military so far in the troubled north east, the Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, Abayomi Olonishakin and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Alhaji Ismalia Aliyu, said the military was still on course despite the challenges.
Olonishakin said: “It is a normal consultation to intimate him of the issues on ground we briefed him on the security situation on ground after a 60-day review and we had to brief him on the challenges we have and ensure that the mandate we have is properly delivered.
“Of course, the challenges we are looking at are the issues of probably the weather as it were and some other logistics that we feel we should have so that the mandate can be quickly delivered. He is very excited, very happy. As for our request, he gave the mandate.
Extension of the deadline?
“We have not said that. The mandate is that we should clear Boko Haram from the occupied territories and ensure that we reclaim all the lost grounds. That is exactly what we are doing.
Is the mandate feasible?
“It is a military operation and military operations have time-lines and these time-lines, we are working on the assiduously”.
Vanguard
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