Oredola Adeola
As part of efforts to grasp the historical importance of the Sambisa forest, thereby bringing the hideout of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists down to human form, a civil society group, Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) is mobilising NGOs- local and international- for a trip to the historic site.
Mrs Joyce Ogwu, the Executive Director of the organisation in Abuja, revealed that the group plans to mobilise 20 other local and international NGOs to embark on a tour of Sambisa forest, the Northeast and other parts of Nigeria to ascertain the level of success in the counter-insurgency war.
CESJET Director, added that the tour will also help the tourists to assess troops' responsiveness to emergency and the current state of affairs of the various operations being carried out by the military.
Mrs Ogwu, further stated that the tour will offer an insight into the roles of the military in fighting insurgency. She said the organisation also expects the tour to dampen the distraction currently placed on the path of the military by a section of the media.
The tour package, according to CESJET has been structured in the manner that would enable the Joint Task Force (JTF) to focus on totally ridding Nigeria of terrorism under whatever guise.
She said, "The devious purveyors of falsehood that are milking this tragedy are creating the impression that the counter-insurgency war has halted or has failed in the aftermath of the attack on Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi.
"We have found such claims to not only be untrue but also mischief at its height. Our concern is that such manipulation of reality is calculated to boost the morale of Boko Haram terrorists to regroup from their defeat.
"They had earlier scattered into the desert and neighboring countries after the Nigerian army dealt them crippling blows but are now being given confidence by those that are exploiting the Dapchi girls to instigate the terrorists to come back together.
We are seeing a repeat of strategies earlier deployed by Boko Haram come into play all over again," Ogwu said.
While condemning the Dapchi schoolgirls attack, Ogwu said it is important to point out that it is still an isolated incident.
"Unlike the series of attacks in the past that showed the display of helplessness by the military, the Nigerian military has continued to maintain recovered grounds.
It is apparent that those peddling negative stories about the war on insurgency do so because they believe they can instigate Nigerians to force the military to divulge full details of its strategy in the counter-insurgency war because there has been reported changes in the approach adopted against the terrorists," she added.
While soliciting support for JTF at the theatre of war, the CESJET Director affirmed that most attacks on soft targets by Boko Haram, which can be averted through prompt and reliable information sharing.
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