Kashim Shettima, Governor of Borno State, says the greatest results so far in the war against Boko Haram have been achieved by army commanders who are not from northern Nigeria.

Shettima said this during a Federal Government town hall meeting held in Maiduguri, the State capital.

He noted that Attahiru Ibrahim, the immediate past commander of ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’, who incidentally is a northerner, “woefully failed to perform”.

“Some of our greatest accomplishments in the current counterinsurgency efforts were recorded under army generals who are not from Borno and northern Nigeria,” Shettima said.

“And what we have recorded in the last six weeks outweighs what was accomplished in the last three years, especially under General Nicholas who is yet another hero of our time.

“The last Theatre Commander, who is even a northerner, had woefully failed to perform.

“When General Leo Irabor, another southerner, was leaving, he left the Boko Haram insurgents in their degraded state. But the insurgents picked up their hostility shortly after he left.”

Shettima urged the Federal Government not to relent in its support to the military in order to ensure that Boko Haram is finally and completely flushed out of the State.

“We want the Federal Government to deploy more resources and sustain the current tempo before the rainy season sets in. We need to root out the Boko Haram now before the now dry Sambisa Forest becomes an impregnable fortress for Boko Haram,” Shettima said.

The town hall meeting was attended by Mansur Dan-Ali, Minister of Defence; Abdulrahman Dambazau, Minister of Interior, and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture.

Earlier, Dan-Ali reiterated that Boko Haram had been completely overrun, as soldiers are in total control of the Sambisa Forest, which used to be the insurgents’ stronghold.

He said more than 30,000 persons had been rescued from Boko Haram’s captivity.