TheCable

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday said Nigerian security agencies were doing well to keep Boko Haram insurgents at bay in the north-east.

While receiving a briefing from the service chiefs, Osinbajo noted that the insurgent group had been heavily degraded.

He expressed satisfaction with the job done by the military but clamoured for vigilance, saying the insurgents were now in the business of causing havoc with suicide bombers.

“As you know, the Boko Haram as a military force has been degraded. They are not holding territory at the moment. Our armed forces have been able to dislodge them from practically all territories they were holding in the past,” he said.

“What is happening now is just once in a while attack by suicide bombers. By the nature of asymmetric warfare, we are not able to say it has ended now. But I think that militarily they have been contained. There is no question at all that Boko Haram as a fighting force has been degraded.

“We are still vigilant because of their capacity to do damage with suicide bombers. I am very satisfied with what the military has done so far.

“And the briefing has shown graphically that they are really on top of their game and that they are doing excellently well in the Northeast.”

The Acting President also disclosed that he will speak with President Muhammadu Buhari, who’s on medical vacation in London, on the briefing received from the service chiefs.