The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at the weekend said that effort would be made by the federal government to bridge the communication gap between the military and citizens, with a view to getting the people to support the war against terrorists in the North east.

Speaking while on a tour of towns and villages liberated from Boko Haram insurgents by Nigerian troops, the minister lauded the military for the sacrifices its men have made for the unity and peace of the country and urged citizens to support the war on terror.

Mohammed, who was on a tour of towns in Borno State that have been liberated from insurgents with a selected team of 33 local and foreign journalists, also commended the Borno State government for the reconstruction projects it had started in the affected communities.

Speaking to troops in Bama, the minister acknowledged that Nigerians had not been previously sensitised about the war against terror in the North east but said that the federal government will ensure that citizens key into the campaign through the launch of a nationwide campaign to bridge the information gap and enlist their support.

”Nigerians are very proud of you for your sacrifice and love of country. ”We’ll tell Nigerians of your heroics and sacrifices,” he assured the troops.

At the Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camp in Bama, the minister gave words of encouragement to displaced victims of the insurgency, including many young children, women and old men whom he referred to as ”the usual victims of the war they know little or nothing about”.

In Konduga, Mohammed, who was accompanied by the Borno State deputy governor, Usman Mamman Durkwa, was taken round construction work being undertaken by the state government in the town which had been abandoned for months by residents after incessant attacks by insurgents.

Back in Maiduguri, the state capital, the minister he expressed happiness that the State Government was taking steps to ease the pains and sufferings of the victims of the insurgency.

The tour, Mohammed said, had afforded him and the journalists on the team to see  the scale of devastation left behind by the terrorists as well on-going efforts by the military to end the insurgency,  adding that they are better informed to educate Nigerians about the situation in the North east.

The minister said expressed the hope that journalists who had also witnessed the devastation in the liberated towns would show more restraint in their reporting and be better placed to write on the insurgency from an informed position, adding that anyone who has visited the affected areas will be more careful in beating the drums of war.

While commending governor Kashim Shettima for the efforts he has made in alleviating the sufferings of displaced persons, the minister disclosed that that the state government would soon commence the rebuilding of the first batch of 1,000 houses in Bama on January 2016.

In his remarks, governor Shettima expressed his happiness at the visit, adding that it was the first time a minister for information would be visiting the theatre of war since 2009 when the insurgency started.

”We have had Ministers of Information who have been speaking about Boko Haram, including one who went to the media to cast aspersion on us last year. However, since the Boko Haram crisis began in 2009, no minister of Information ever visited Borno State to source first-hand information and see ground realities until this 5th Day of December, 2015, that we have before us Alhaji Lai Mohammed,” the governor said.

Earlier, the minister had visited the command and control centre of the war on terror at the Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, where he was received by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

Olonisakin briefed him on the efforts being made by the military to meet the December 2015 deadline set by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister equally visited the headquarters of the 7 Division, where he was received by the Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Y.M. Abubakar, who also accompanied him on the tour of the liberated areas.