He noted that the military was making rapid progress in crushing the the Boko Haram menace in the North-east, stressing that hundreds of them were surrendering everyday while others were running away for safety.
Advertisement
“The new Nigerian government, which I have the honour to head, moved with dispatch to put in a bold and robust strategy to defeat Boko Haram“, he said.
Last Thursday, in an operation supported by Cameroonian troops and the Nigerian air force, seven Boko Haram camps were destroyed and more than a dozen improvised explosive devices found in and near the town detonated in controlled explosions.
Buhari made the statement on Sunday in New York during a meeting with President Xi Jinping of China on the side lines of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations.
While emphasising Nigeria’s willingness to partner with the global community to confront corruption, President Buhari also condemned the rise of human trafficking.
He did not hesitate to seek the support of neighboring countries under the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic to defeat terrorism in the sub-region.
“One of our major aims is to rescue the Chibok girls alive and unharmed”.
He said: “Let me reaffirm the Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to fight corruption and illicit financial flows”.
“The recent case of the absence of Nigeria at one of the key meetings at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the issue of humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency in Lake Chad-linked countries, including our country was the main agenda, further asserts the ineptitude of the handlers of the President on national and worldwide issues. The girls are constantly on our minds and in our plans”, he said. We in Africa are grieved to see on global networks how hundreds of thousands of our able bodied men and women fleeing to Europe and in the process thousands dying in the desert or drowning in the Mediterranean.
Buhari also called for the urgent resolution of the question of self determination for the people of Palestine and Western Sahara.
A few 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram from their school in Chibok, located in Nigeria’s restive north-eastern Borno state, in April 2014, as the militant group ramped up brutal attacks targeting the country’s children.
The President also proposed the adoption of peace as a seventh essential element of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by world leaders in New York.
Advertisement
To assist the military in its fight against Boko Haram, the Nigerian defense spokesman called on members of the public to continue supporting security agents by reporting any suspicious movement of persons or vehicles loaded with supplies meant for Boko Haram terrorists enclaves.
