The Minister of Defense, Maj-Gen. Bashir Magashi has said that more soldiers are to be recruited to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast. According to him, the recruitment of soldiers with professional skills and fighting equipment with strategies could rout out remnants of terrorists from hideouts. Magashi disclosed this Sunday, while addressing troops at the Military Command and Control Centre, Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. The over a decade long terrorism claimed 36,000 lives with property worth $9.2 billion, about N3.42 trillion in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. Magashi, who was accompanied with the Service Chiefs of Army and Air Force, Lt-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru and Air Marshall Ishiaka Amao, said: “The recruitment and deployment of soldiers to Sambisa Forest, Lake Chad region and the Mandara Hills, is inevitable to end this war.” While appreciating the efforts of troops at the parade ground yesterday, he said: “It’s only you that could perform professionally in the theatre of war. “We count on each and every one of you in the front lines of the forest and Lake Chad region to end the over decade insurgency,” he said. The Minister also tasks the soldiers to fight the insurgents to their knees, until they are completely routed from their hideouts in Borno and Yobe states. While reviewing the counter-terrorism operations, he said: “I’m here today in Maiduguri to assess your fighting spirit, before we could unfold a plan on how to end this war. “We also believe in your commitments and the professional skills of fighting Boko Haram insurgents to end the war,” he said; noting that the over a decade long terrorism has claimed many lives and property in the region.
