Boko Haram has been sent out of their strongholds inside Nigeria, minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said, Thursday in a speech he delivered at a meeting with members of the Broadcasting Organization.
“The Federal Government believes that the military has succeeded in massively degrading the capacity of the Boko Haram terrorists to carry out the kind of attacks they used to launch in the past, like that on the police headquarters in Abuja, on the UN Complex also in Abuja and on military barracks. However, we also know that the terrorists, who have been routed from their strongholds, have now resorted to attacking soft targets, that is highly vulnerable places like markets, motor parks, mosques, entertainment centres and schools, killing innocent people,” Mohammed said.
“That is why we believe that, as a government, we must now sensitize our people, so that they can be more security conscious and help to end the spate of suicide bombings that are the last vestiges of a fading insurgency.”
The minister revealed that the federal government is launching a National Security Awareness Campaign as part of efforts to provide the missing civilian component of the war against terrorism.
He said the campaign is aimed at sensitizing Nigerians to the need to support the military, which has availed itself creditably in the battle, as well as to own the war and also aimed at alerting Nigerians to the need to be more security conscious.
“In this regard, we need all Nigerians to join hands together. We need all hands on deck. And we need a very important organization like yours, the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, to assist us in creating awareness among our people.
“Already, some of your members, like the NTA, the FRCN and VON, have taken up the gauntlet and are now running awareness campaign messages on their stations. Since December, these stations have dedicated many slots, some in prime time, to airing these campaign messages in different languages. Also, the News Agency of Nigeria has been using its SMS Platform to send security awareness messages to Nigerians. Let me use this opportunity to commend these media organizations for a job well done, and to also urge them not to relent until all our citizens are safe and secure,” Mohammed said.
