The Presidency said on Monday Nigeria is a lot safer now than in 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office.
The Senior Special on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, stated this when he appeared on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today.
The presidential aide based his assessment on the “waning activities of Boko Haram insurgents” in the North-East.
He added that what Nigeria is currently experiencing are “new challenges that have been mostly subdued.”
When he was asked to give an assessment of the security situation in the country, Shehu said:
“As far as Boko Haram terrorism is concerned, Nigeria is a safer place today than it was in 2015 when he took power.
“New challenges have come up, farmers-herders clashes, and killings in certain sections of the country, much of those have been subdued.
We have been confronted with the sabotage of oil installations in the South-South that have been managed effectively up to this point.
“Challenges of kidnapping and banditry have risen in so many parts of the country, including the South-West. Though the South-West is the safest part of the country.”
The presidential spokesman insisted that the Boko Haram terrorists have disappeared and merged into a bigger threat, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) and has targeted military formations, civilians, religious centers among others.
“What we are seeing today is that the Boko Haram that we knew has virtually disappeared and has merged to a bigger threat, ISWAP, that is funded and financed by the Libyan Army and alliances that have been formed including Iraq.
“This is a challenge not only to Nigeria and Lake Chad Basin but to the Sub-Saharan region. The whole of West Africa is tackling this together.”
