By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA- Defence Headquarters has asked Nigerians not to panic over reports of possible infiltration of Boko Haram terrorists in some areas outside North East, saying the sects have not only been completely decimated but also confined to Sambisa Forest pending when they will be completely eliminated.

It also said contrary to insinuations that the military operations in the South East, tagged: “Operation Python Dance” was a threat to the peace and security of the area, it was merely a training platform for personnel in the zone.

Speaking to select journalists in Abuja, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, Director, Information of the Defence Headquarters, however, said in the course of the exercise, the personnel can respond to normalize peace if there were threats to security.

Abubakar, who said contrary to recent fears expressed by the Kano State governor about possible imminent infiltration of his state by Boko Haram terrorists, insisted that the terrorists have been defeated, saying a handful of them were restricted to their enclave in Sambisa Forest.

“The military has done what is termed as containment action and movements against the Boko Haram, and its ability to attack. What the Boko Haram now do is normal segmented flash attacks.”

“Only a few members of the sect on bikes now parade isolated areas to attack. I am glad to say that in any of our operations that we have conducted, we freed the captives of the terrorists in each of these operations in the North East too, “he said.

Abubakar added:”Equally important is the free movement now of commercial vehicles. People can now do their businesses and without fear.The economic aspect of the areas has also bounced back.”

“However, we are always on the watch as terrorists are never tired. They have ways of disguising and carrying out isolated ambushes and attacks.”

“We understand all their antics and their modus operandi. On the issue of IEDs planted on the roads to impede the movements of the troops is also under consideration and we have made progress on that. We have procured relevant platforms to contain that.”

“By and large, the operations there have significantly reached a good level and we will soon eliminate all of them as we have restricted them to the enclave of Sambisa and if you have been following, this Christmas will witness the launching of the last batch of operations.”

“There could be a connectivity. Where the Boko Haram are being disturbed, generally they have to seek a leeway by way of movement and find new places. So, the possibility cannot be ruled out.”

“But what the military are saying is that their movement would be extremely hard. I do not see them progressing beyond the North East.”

Speaking on the Operation Python Dance, he cautioned against politicizing the matter.

“We do not have to politicize the issue of security. Whatever the military does is with all sincerity and purpose. It is nationalistic and we do not conduct just operations targeting any group.”

“For example, in the North Central, we did an operation. All these operations are ways of training. The whole military job is about training and it is why you do this that you have trained men.”

“The Navy also had Eagle Eye. They are aimed to train personnel to test their capabilities, strengths and others.”

“In the course of trainings, there could be some identified security threatened areas and which definitely must draw the attention of the military, but that is an addendum to what we want to achieve.”

“There is a need to come out with proactive measures that will checkmate the activities of kidnappers, robbers, herdsmen, farmers’ clash and others. This is what we are trying to achieve in the region.”

“It is not to threaten or harass anyone. The operations are command exercises. The insinuations are wrong. The essence of the training is to remind officers what is expected of them.”

But he said the exercise was not without reasons, saying the country’s borders were so porous to necessitate such training.

“You see, geographically, there is no smoke without fire. Why I say so is that we have borders that are lacking in some certain levels of security presence. We have porous borders. We have smuggling in of small arms, medium arms, trans-border crimes and so on. Armed robberies, profligacy and others. “

“All these accumulate from issues having to do with porous borders. The borders are still porous, and we have to realise that some of the members of the insurgence countries would come from these countries, especially with the fall of government in these countries  which necessitate the fallen regime to relocate with their arms and ammunition.”

“So, we agree that some of these terrorists are from outside Nigeria. Porous borders are a challenge it is natural and that is why we come up with the multinational task force, we have had some many operations in the area and they have been successful.