Army Closes In On Boko Haram's Political Leaders

The General Officer Commanding 1 Division,
Nigerian Army, Maj- Gen. Garba Wahab, yesterday
said that the military was closing in on politicians,
who sponsor terrorism in the country.
He also said the Police alone cannot handle the
security challenges facing the country.
"If we are told by the political leadership of Nigeria
to leave the streets today, it will take me just a few
minutes to order my soldiers back to the barracks.
But the police cannot handle the situation alone;
that is why we were called in the first place.
"My fear is that if we dismantled the roadblocks
and leave the scenes, the situation might take a
turn for the worst. We are enjoying peace and
safety in Kaduna State because of the coordinated
effort of Intelligence and the Nigeria Army," he
said.
Wahab spoke when he received the executive
members of the Correspondents Chapel of the
Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna led by
its chairman, Mr. Luka Binniyat, at the 1 Div
Headquarters. Kaduna. He said the Army would
leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Nigerians
live in peace and are well secured.
"Terrorism is based on fear; the Army would do
whatever it takes to make Nigerians sleep with
their two eyes closed. The Army has a mandate to
do whatever is within the ambit of the law to
provide security for the people and ensure that the
country remains united," he added
Wahab explained that every operation, which had
been carried out by the Army was based on
information provided by the State Security Services
(SSS).
"We are dealing with terrorists, who operate a
complex command chain and understand their turf
very well. Some of them who we have arrested are
just the foot-soldiers, who do not even know one
another. We believe that they have spiritual and
political leaders and we have started getting at
them.
"These people have well -stocked arms but we do
not want to create panic in the public with
revelation of arms we have recovered from them.
In Zaria alone, in the house of the an influential
man, we engaged these terrorists on several hours
of gun battle before we subdued them. We
discovered a pile-up of explosives, maybe about a
tonne. We had to evacuate the entire area before
removing the explosives."