Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Tukur Buratai says terrorism is likely to persist in Nigeria for another 20 years.
His comments, in a Facebook post, come in the wake of the killing of at least 43 rice farmers in Zabarmari community, Borno by a Boko Haram faction.
Saturday’s killings increased calls for Buratai and other service chiefs to be replaced. Some governors of states in the northern region, hardest hit by the insurgency, have called for the government to use foreign mercenaries.
Buratai said in his post that there was a “general misunderstanding of what insurgency and terrorism entail. There is (a) likelihood of terrorism persisting in Nigeria for another 20 years.”
He added that “all must cooperate to contain the lingering insecurity. Let there be collective action and responsibility.”
The army chief did not specify what the action should be.
