The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has again said Nigeria’s Armed Forces have “checkmated” terrorism.
DHQ spokesman John Enenche, in an interview with NAN on Monday, said although there are pockets of attacks once in a while, the activities of insurgents, particularly in the north-east, have been checked significantly since 2015.
“The issue of bombings that even spread to other places like Abuja, Kano, Niger and Kogi States, including their slipper cells no longer exist,” Enenche said.
“What about suicide bombing, which is one of the signs of terrorism? It was rife and even at our checkpoints they come and detonate bombs as well as public gatherings; all these have been nipped properly.
“If you put all these together, I can tell you that terrorism has been checkmated.
“However, the signs are still there with isolated action here and there; common with terrorism.”
Enenche said history has shown that terrorism “is a very resilient type of enemy activity”, adding that the type of terrorism in Nigeria is not “a smart one” but rooted in the state of mind of a group of people.
He also said Boko Haram and ISWAP were hybrid threats that became protracted with immediate and remote causes.
He asked Nigerians to be bold in coming out to provide information on activities of the insurgents to aid security agencies in tracking their locations.
