It is not our duty to uncover Boko Haram sponsors – Nigerian Military
The Nigerian Military, Thursday, said that it is not part of its responsibilities to unravel the sponsors of the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) terror groups.
It said that even though it is aware that the groups are sponsored, its duty is to defeat the terrorists and not to meddle into their source of funding or sponsorship.
Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, while fielding questions from Defence Correspondents, said that it is the duty of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Security to find out and disclose the identities of those sponsoring the terrorists and other criminal gangs in the country.
According to him, “the kind of weapons these terrorists are using like the gun truck and other sophisticated weapons are expensive and how much are they stealing to procure those arms that have to say that they are sponsored and heavily funded. But like I said, it is not the duty of the Military to uncover the sponsors. Our duty is to remain in the frontline and defeat terrorism and other criminality and that is what we are doing.
“We have the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Security (DSS), it is their responsibility to gather intelligence on the sponsors of the terrorist sand not the Military”.
On why the Military is yet to overrun the Sambisa forest, considered the traditional base of the Boko Haram Sect, Enenche, said that troops are avoiding collateral damages that may result from total bombardment of the forest.
He explained that the terrorists mingle with civilians in the Sambisa forest who collaborate with the insurgents thus making it difficult for troops to carry out major attacks on identified locations.
Meanwhile, giving updates on ongoing Military Operations, he noted that “in the North-East, troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE (OPLD) recorded commendable results in the past two weeks. During the period under review, troops conducted several operations at various locations, which led to the neutralization of terrorists, destruction of their equipment and structures as well as recovery of various items”.
