Press Release on Boko Haram Situation in North East

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The terrorist insurgency group, Boko Haram is yet to be defeated, degraded or decimated, this is the glaring truth that must be accepted and confronted with all sincerity, so that they can truly be defeated and decimated beyond the rhetoric.

While the group is no longer gaining more grounds like it used to do during the previous administration, they are still very much alive and active. It has in our observation, adopted a different mode of operation, which is no longer about sacking communities or gaining territories, but consolidating its achievement and gaining the heart of the people in the area it has significant influence, a method that seems to be silently working in its favor, as seen in their heroic welcome in dapchi Village, when they returned the abducted Dapchi girls on 21st Marhc, 2018.



Contrary to popular claims that the people were excited because the abducted girls were returned, Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) hold the views that, what was seen in Dapchi was not an excitement about the returned girls alone, it is indeed a welcome reception for the terrorist group, by those who willingly or unwillingly align with their ideology.

In view of the situation, Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) wishes to prevail on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the military authorities to resist the temptation of wanting to look good before the public and the international community through claiming to have defeated Boko Haram insurgency, when available evidences doesn’t support that assertion. We appeal to government to actually concentrate on truly defeating the group, both militarily, ideologically and in the area of information warfare.

It is true that significant progress has been made in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency by the current administration. However, we are compelled to observe that in government quest to paint a rosy picture of the progress, it is doing so beyond the reality on ground, thereby beclouding itself from the reality stirring the general public in the face.



Boko Haram got a heroic welcome in Dapchi village, Yobe State, North East Nigeria after they returned 105 abducted Dapchi girls last week. The terrorist group drove in with style like actors in action movies, with their bloody black flag, socked with blood of innocent Nigerians waving with confidence, yet on the soil of Nigeria. To our understanding, this is not a sign of defeat, but that of the opposite.

In a video widely circulated on social media, excited locals were seen struggling to get close to Boko Haram vehicle in other to touch it like a sort of celebrities and those that did got close was seen touching the terrorists with passion and praying for them to succeed. ‘’May God assist you in your mission’’ some locals prayed in Hausa language.

One Hundred and Ten (110) Dapchi girls were abducted by Boko Haram on February 19th 2018 from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi and after all efforts by security agencies to rescue them alive failed, Federal Government of Nigeria entered into a successful negotiation with the group, leading to the return of the girls on Wednesday, 21st March, 2018. Out of 110 girls abducted, 105 were returned amid wide jubilation by the people, while the remaining 5 were reportedly dead. Upon dropping the girls in Dapchi town besides a police station, the terrorists, according to reports preached for almost an hour to a large crowd of people before driving away.



In another video posted on Sahara Reporters online media platform, crowd of sympathizers in Dapchi town were seen praising Boko Haram commanders for their efforts and praying for them to succeed in their agenda. The report also said that the group warned parents to desist from taking their children to school.

A careful analysis of that event by Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) indicates that the entrance of Boko Haram to Dapchi town with their flag right up is a psychological victory for the group and a blow of Nigeria. It re-enforces the fact that they are still in control in some areas and failure to abide by their directives open the people to their wrath. Who dare listen to the government, when the terrorist group is clearly in charge? Who dare disregard the group in those areas, when they can kidnap and return over 100 people at will? This is contrary to claim of government that Boko Haram has been defeated.



In December 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria has "technically won the war" against Islamist Boko Haram militants. Despite public disagreement with the authority’s claim in line with the reality of the insurgency’s operation, President Buhari insisted in 2016 that Boko Haram has been defeated, yet almost 3,000 people were killed by Boko Hara in that year alone. However, this didn’t prevent the president from reiterating that Boko haram has been defeated in the New Year broadcast of 2017. “We have since beaten Boko Haram,” he declares. However, more than 1000 others were killed by the group in 2017. Similarly, in January 2018, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai restated the widely held stance by federal officials that the Boko Haram has been defeated. Again in February 2018, Military authorities announced that the Nigerian army has completely defeated Boko Haram insurgents in the country. The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Rogers Nicholas said this during the inauguration of the Nigeria-Cameroon military joint mission in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

However, barely a week, after military announced again, that it has totally defeated the insurgency, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 100 school girls in Dapchi village, indicating that they still operate very freely in some areas. We contend that, if the group can confidently kidnap more than 100 students without any interference, despite the heavy presence of the military across the North east, that tells any sincere observer that the government claim of defeating Boko Haram is further from be truth.

We call on the government to accept the reality of the situation and mobilize all Nigerians behind it in its quest to truly defeating the group and restoring peace and order.

Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) will support any efforts by government to truly end the ongoing insurgency.

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
Executive Director
Foundation for Peace Professionals
08076976917

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