A retired Director of Military Procurement at the Defence
Headquarters, Brig. Gen. Ayodele Ojo, and a Lagos-based security expert, Dr.
Ona Ekhomu, has said the Boko Haram was planning a nationwide expansion of its
Islamic caliphate. The sect has already seized no fewer than 13 communities in
the North East. The retired army general and Ekhomu stated that the exploits of
the Sunni Jihadist group in the Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria, was motivating the Boko Haram insurgents to overrun communities and
towns in the North East. In a telephone interview with one of our
correspondents, Ojo warned the Nigerian armed forces to change their tactics
from waging a counter-insurgency operation to an all-out war to prevent the
security situation from further deteriorating. He said, It is obvious that
their (Boko Haram) plan is to expand their Caliphate with the aim of
establishing an Islamic State in Nigeria. They started with the hoisting of
their flag in Damboa, Borno State. The exploits of ISIS in Syria and Iraq was the tonic they, the
Boko Haram insurgents, needed. From the North East, they would now expand their
caliphate to cover the entire country. I believe the Federal Government is
aware of this. The general, who during his military service participated in
several peace keeping operations, including the ECOMOG Operation in Liberia,
said it was shocking to note that terrorism which was alien to the Nigerian
culture was becoming a regular feature of its national life. Stating that
members of the Nigerian armed forces were up to the task of maintaining the
territorial integrity of the country, he added that the Defence Headquarters
should improve upon specialised training for its men in battling terrorism.
Punch Newspaper
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