Military begins road construction into Sambisa Forest

The Nigerian military on Wednesday said it had commenced the construction of roads into the Sambisa and Alagarno havens of the Boko Haram insurgents.

The military also revealed that over 80 per cent of the Sambisa Forest had been captured from the insurgents as it insisted that the counter-insurgency war in the North-East would soon be over.

The military equally disclosed at a press conference by the head of counter-insurgency operation in the North-East (Operation Lafiya Dole), Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, that 1,880 civilians mostly women were rescued from the insurgents in the last one week.

Irabor also revealed that in the last one week, 504 suspected Boko Haram insurgents were arrested while 19 insurgents surrendered voluntarily.

He noted that 37 foreigners were arrested by the military and they were undergoing interrogations to ascertaining their relationship with the terrorists.

Irabor during the press conference in Maiduguri, televised live to the nation, said, “We have embarked on roads construction within the Sambisa Forest to open up the area and also to ease our operations within the theatre.

“I call on individuals and corporate organisations to come in and support the military, as everything cannot be left to government alone. They can support us with construction materials and other materials, as roads are essential in reviving the economic development of the North-East,” he said.

Irabor warned members of the public, especially female students of tertiary institutions to be wary of new recruitment website, insisting that “Boko Haram insurgency is an evil that is meant to destroy the society.”

“I also urge the general public to continue to support the military in our final move to wipe out insurgency in the North-East through the provision of useful information and not to follow the ways of some media outfits that are bent on bringing down the military,” he appealed.