Declare full-scale war on Boko Haram, IBB tells Buhari

OSAZUWA

FORMER military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to launch a full onslaught on Boko Haram.

The General said the fight should be well coordinated by the military and carried out day and night to bring the insurgents to their knees.

He also called on all Nigerians to unite against the insurgency which has claimed many innocent lives in the northern part of the country.

He conveyed this in his Sallah message yesterday to express his warm wishes to all Muslims at home and abroad for the successful completion of the 30-day Ramadan. He regretted that the continued killing by the insurgents had dragged Islamic in the mud. He condemned the dastardly acts.

He said Islam which he was born into, some 74 years ago, is a very peaceful religion that preaches brotherliness and togetherness, adding that it encourages love, affection and respect for neighbours and mankind. According to him, it is one religion that has an abiding influence on its adherents to cooperate with one another and promote peace in their respective communities.

He also prayed God to touch the hearts of the insurgents so that the untoward act of bloodletting will permanently cease.

“As much as one would have appreciated our efforts as devout Muslims who have observed the obligatory month of Ramadan, the incessant killings and bloodlettings by members of the Boko Haram leave a sour taste in my mouth. For want of no discernible ideology, they have continued to portray Islam in very bad light, making members of other religions to perceive us with scorn.

“Events in the last four weeks have continued to raise our adrenaline, in a season of apprehension and utter suspicion, about our security engagements and the sum total of our collective sufferance as a nation. The heightened tension is occasioned by renewed hostilities and mindless bombings predominantly by suicide bombers who have decidedly chose the option of death to life. We have seen the worst of human follies in the conduct of these avoidable carnage and bloodletting by unscrupulous persons under the guise of religion, doing havoc to our sense of nationality,” Babangida said.

The former military president stated that at this stage of our national history, especially with the insecurity Nigeria presently experiences, it was appropriate for the country to devise new ways and means of confronting the hydra headed insurgency, without making such initiatives public knowledge.

“Media intelligence is required in helping to assemble information and distilling such information in a manner that would benefit the fight against terrorism. Going by the news and information we get everyday, I feel very strongly that the media has a greater role to play in the management of information,” he said.

According to him, Buhari, as a military officer, understands the import of his altruistic suggestions, believing that the President will take steps to apply some of them that fit into the mainstream strategies already in place.

“The approach has to be a holistic one, well coordinated with full onslaught launched by the day and night to route these insurgents to surrender,” he advised.

“On a good day, as is often said, the idea of taking some Boko Haram suspects and prisoners to Anambra State, should not be public knowledge, if we are truly serious about information management. Each time we celebrate the dastardly acts of Boko Haram on the front pages of our newspapers and electronic platforms, it is a score for Boko Haram. I have implicit confidence in my mind that President Muhammadu Buhari, will put the final nail on the coffin of Boko Haram so that Nigeria can truly assume her greatness in the comity of nations,” Gen. Babangida said.