The All Progressives Congress, APC, has praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort in seeking international assistance as the country battles a resurgent Boko Haram.
In a statement released on Saturday by the party’s publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the President’s effort should be commended and not criticised, particularly as Boko Haram has demonstrated its capacity to spread beyond the shores of the country.
”It is baffling that some opposition politicians wanted Nigeria to go it alone against Boko Haram, even as the terrorist group has taken its battle beyond the shores of Nigeria, to such countries as Cameroon, Chad and Niger. It is common knowledge that the terrorists use these countries as launch pads for their attacks against Nigeria, and vice versa, and that they routinely engage in cross-boundary raids.
”It is common knowledge that Boko Haram’s tentacles have spread as far as Mali, the home base of the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of the Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. It is no longer a secret that Boko Haram has now affiliated itself to the Islamic State, seeing itself as the West African chapter of the terror group. How then can Nigeria effectively deal with Boko Haram without seeking the assistance of other concerned countries?” the party queried.
Just a few days after his inauguration, the President made his first trip outside the country to Niger and Chad, two of the three countries, including Cameroon, affected by the insurgency, to seek ways of how best to confront the group. The move, the APC said, shows the President understands the dimension the insurgency is taking.
The party is also pleased with vote of confidence passed on the Nigerian military to effectively take on Boko Haram, saying this could only serve as a much needed morale booster.
”That vote of confidence on our military is the first step in the efforts of the Buhari administration to restore the glory of the once-globally-acclaimed Nigerian military through morale boosting measures that will include arming and kitting the troops effectively and caring about their welfare so that they can more effectively tackle the terrorists,” it said.