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Why Nigerian Military Hasn’t Wiped Out Boko Haram For 16 Uears – CDS, Musa

Published

8 months ago

January 25, 2025

Editor

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has explained why the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist groups has lasted for so long.

The group began sophisticated attacks, initially against soft targets, but progressed in 2011 to include suicide bombings of police buildings and the United Nations office in Abuja.

The government’s establishment of a state of emergency at the beginning of 2012, extended in the following year to cover the entire northeast of Nigeria.

Apart from the killing of tens of thousands of innocent citizens in the region, about 2.3 million people have been displaced by the conflict since May 2013.

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday, the Chief of Defence Staff highlighted issues that might have led to the military’s prolonged battle with the insurgents.

“This Boko Haram thing is a lot. Then I tell you this, for them to have survived for 16 years and are still fighting, how are they getting their funding? Who’s sustaining them? Because they cannot just be doing it actively just like that.

“What I tell people is- no country should allow this kind of thing to commence. It is a difficult operation to eradicate, extremely difficult.

“Because before now, when we had the conventional kind of warfare, you are fighting a country. You know you’re fighting for territory. You want to achieve something.

“Now you are fighting with people that have nothing to lose. It is an ideology they have in their minds. They believe they are right and you are wrong. He believes if he kills you, he’s getting a blessing. If you kill him, he’s going to heaven. That’s absolutely nothing to lose.

“That makes it very, very difficult, and it’s not written on their foreheads. So, how do you identify who is who?

“And they’ve realized that we obey international laws, they don’t. So what do they do? They use human shields. Anytime they have anything, they go with people, so that you cannot attack them, you cannot shoot, and that’s what makes it so.

“When people say, why is it taking so long? It is a very, very difficult operation to do, because you make the mistake, you kill some people, and your country comes after you. If you don’t kill them [the terrorists], and they continue striving. So, in both ways, you are at the receiving end.

“Because you are wearing a uniform, you can be identified. You are, by law, constitutionally held down on certain things that you must obey. So those are the issues we are facing.

“You know, like I told you, if it was conventional warfare with the equipment, armaments we have now, we’ll go to a community and flatten the entire community where they live. We’ll end this in the very short term, but you can’t do that anymore.”
(DAILY POST)

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NiMet Predicts Three-day Rain, Thunderstorms From Monday

Published

14 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

News

JUST IN: Ooni Visits Olubadan-designate Ladoja In Ibadan

Published

19 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Sunday, paid a visit to the Olubadan designate, Rashidi Ladoja, at his Bodija private residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The PUNCH reports that Oba Ladoja will be installed as the 44th Olubadan on Friday, September 26, 2025, following the demise of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who joined his ancestors on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the age of 90 years.

The two paramount rulers are currently exchanging pleasantries.

Details later…

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JUST IN: FG Revokes 1,263 Mineral Licenses Over Unpaid Fees

Published

20 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has announced a fresh revocation of not less than 1,263 mineral licenses.

These licenses, which will now be deleted from the Electronic Mining Cadastral System portal of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.

The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the revocation announcement in a statement issued by his special assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Sunday in Abuja.

The minister explained that the directive was issued due to the companies’ failure to comply with the requirement of paying their annual service fees.

The latest revocation brings the total mineral titles revoked under the current administration to 3, 794 including,619 mineral titles revoked for defaulting in paying annual service fees and 912 for dormancy last year.

By opening up the areas formerly covered by these licenses, the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities.

The statement read, “Not less than 1,263 mineral licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastral system of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, following their revocation by the Federal Government.

“These include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.”

Approving the revocation following the recommendation of the MCO, the Minister said applying the law to keep speculators and unserious investors away from the mining sector would make way for diligent investors and grow the sector.

“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder, while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites, is over.

“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the license because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind,” the minister said.

He warned that the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, adding that the list will be forwarded to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.

“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities.”

In the recommendation to the minister, the Director-General of the MCO, Simon Nkom, disclosed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licences in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.

He informed the minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitise licencees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.

He observed that the delay in the final recommendation was due to complaints of several licensees who claimed to have paid to the Federal Government through Remita and had to be reconciled.

Earlier this month, the DG MCO had hinted that more mining licences would be revoked as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters.

According to Nkom, the clean-up exercise, which covers expired, speculative, and inactive titles, is necessary to make room for genuine investors and ensure compliance with the law.

This is part of ongoing efforts at sanitising the sector since the inception of the Tinubu administration, and the salutary effects of the reforms are massive and manifest despite the attempts to push back by defaulters and their agents.