The Federal Government has raised an alarm that the insurgent group, Boko Haram, may have started recruiting and training fighters to boost its terror attacks.
Coordinator of the National Information Centre on the war against terrorism, Mike Omeri, who raised the alarm at a press briefing in Abuja, on Thursday, cited intelligence reports.
“In the general effort to contain acts of insurgency in the North East and secure the entire area for the forthcoming general elections, the centre wishes to alert the general public on very recent intelligence reports which indicated a considerable movement of Boko Haram recruits from such locations as Geidam, Mairi and Dupcha (all in Borno State) to training camps within the general area.
“Previous major attacks by insurgents, including the siege on Bama and Monguno military bases, were preceded by such massing up of fighters in training camps within the proposed targets.
“This recent development, which points in the same direction, has also been alluded to by the Boko Haram group in its recent boast about having a 30,000 – 50,000-strong force to disrupt elections in Maiduguri.”
Omeri, however, said the Nigerian military forces have fully mobilised and deployed troops against the insurgents whom he claimed were being chased and roundly subdued.
“Therefore, we urge the general public to exercise a high level of vigilance and also support the effort of the military to ensure hitch-free elections and a return to normalcy in the general area, soonest.
“We also seize this opportunity to restate government’s commitment to keeping the country and her citizens safe from those who seek to destroy the nation,” Omeri said.
Omeri, who is also the Director General, National Orientation Agency, NOA, urged the civil society, politicians and everybody to avoid disruptive and inciting statements and assured the general public of regular update on the successes scored by the military and security forces in the fight against terror in the North East.
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