TheCable

Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, says troops in the north-east killed 1,429 Boko Haram insurgents and arrested 166 informants of the group in two months.

Speaking with journalists after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, Buratai said there have been “tremendous” achievements in the fight against the insurgents.

The army chief expressed the hope that the security situation in the north-east would continue to improve.

“The troops are putting in their best and that has resulted in the tremendous successes we are recording,” he said.

“The fight is still ongoing and over 1,429 of this Boko Haram terrorists have been neutralised and we have arrested over 166 Boko haram terrorists informants, their spies, couriers on logistics and their coordinators in the villages, the towns and even the forest.

“So, this is a tremendous achievement, our intelligence corps along with the Department of State Services and of course our good friends the civilian Joint Task Force CJTF, have worked very hard to see that this is achieved and I assure you that things will continue to improve as the days go by.”

Buratai said the focus of the army is not only on the north-east but also on other parts of the country experiencing insecurity.

“So with this brief that I gave him (president) this morning, is further confirmation of what he has been receiving and so far, so good, he is impressed with the performance of the troops in the north-east and the effort put in so far has paid off,” the army chief said.

“We will continue to deal with the situation, not only in the north-east but all other parts of the country.”

Buratai praised the effort of the soldiers in making sure that the country is safe.