THE Federal Government said yesterday it does not have any evidence yet linking Boko Haram with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mike Omeri, who spoke with reporters with other security chiefs, said it was an act of desperation by the Boko Haram sect to be identifying with the ISIS.

“It can best be described as an act of sympathy and desperation by the sect to be identifying with ISIS; it is unacceptable.

“We wish to state that there is no evidence that the IS operates in Nigeria and the latest attempt by Boko Haram to identify with the group is an act of desperation aimed at seeking attention and possible assistance from outside in the face of the crushing defeat they are suffering in the hands of the Nigerian Armed Forces and other regional collaborators.

“The fact of the matter is that Nigeria and her neighbours are pushing the insurgents away from their strongholds, capturing many of them and destroying several of their facilities,” he said.

Omeri added that the government would do everything within its powers to sustain the fight against Boko Haram while also striving to get back the remaining lost territories.

His words: “We wish to assure Nigerians that this tempo will be sustained until every presence of Boko Haram insurgency is totally obliterated in Nigeria.

“The only nation that will exist in Nigeria is a united Federal Republic of Nigeria, which demands the cooperation, commitment and patriotism of all its citizens,” he said.

On the clampdown on Maiduguri and other targets, Omeri urged members of the public to remain very vigilant in public and business places as well as motor parks.

He said: “In our previous alerts to the nation, we warned of the possibility that fleeing members of the insurgent group would resort to attacking communities and other soft targets on their way.

“We continue to urge Nigerians to exercise extra-vigilance, especially at this period when our security forces continue to fish out members of the group who might have been embedded in the society, and whose activities have given rise to the recent bombing incidents within Maiduguri and other locations in the Northeast zone.

“The Federal Government strongly reminds all Nigerians to exercise more scrutiny of persons and movements, especially within their areas of business and worship.

“Motor-park and market managers must step up the level of security within their business premises, while religious authorities need to put in place more effective security cordon around places of worship to ensure the safety of the adherents,” he said.

Omeri added that as the protocols guiding the various regional co-operations and alliances continue to materialise, Nigerian military forces, with the assistance of the nation’s neighbours, have continued to record more successes in the recovery and liberation of more locations in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states.

He said the territories, which have been retaken since Friday, include Marte, Mafa and Damasak (Borno State) as well as Buni Yadi, headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area and Buni Gari, Yobe State, bringing the number of towns recovered to 36.

Omeri added that field reports indicated that Nigerian soldiers were determined to clear Boko Haram from the entire zone in a short while.

He praised the efforts of Nigeria’s allies from Chad, Niger and Cameroun for putting in place measures to cut-off the supply lines of the terrorists.

The coordinator hoped that the unfolding regional cooperation would hasten the total defeat and extermination of Boko Haram from the sub-region.

LagosBoi2:
see who's talking

like they have the intelligence to know

bamog:
gej iz a murderer!! He iz d 1 funding boko haram!!! Only gmb fit destroy bh!! march4buhari

phlamesG:
Like if you believe boko haram will crushed and wiped out 4rm dis country #believe