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Nigeria: The defeat of deadly Boko Haram?
[Al Jazeera] Nigeria's information minister said on Tuesday that Boko Haram... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... was "largely defeated" - despite two days of grisly attacks blamed on the gang that killed dozens in the volatile northeast. Lai Mohammed said the Nigerian government had greatly reduced Boko Haram's capacity to strike, adding it was on its last legs as a rebel force since launching an insurgency six years ago that has killed an estimated 20,000 people. "Boko Haram has been largely defeated. They know they are on their way out," Mohammed told journalists in Lagos. "They lack the capacity to launch horrendous attacks they used to do in the past. We have succeeded in dislodging them. Our problem now is how to resettle the internally displaced people." Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari set a self-imposed deadline to stamp out the group on December 31, and he said recently Boko Haram had been "technically" defeated. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... it is believed Boko Haram was responsible for a series of attacks last weekend on towns in the north of Africa's most populous nation, calling into question the government's claims. Posted by: Fred 2016-05-22 |
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