Buhari boasts, says Boko Haram no longer hold any Nigerian territory

President Muhammadu Buhari has hailed the Armed Forces and their successes in combating Boko Haram, resulting in their activities being degraded so that they can no longer hold territory or launch military-style attacks.
The president also called on Nigerians to be determined to strengthen the country and build on things that unite rather than divide it in spite of diverse cultures and religions.
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at an inter-denominational church service to mark the 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day at the National Christian Centre in Abuja, Buhari said Nigeria is proud of the mili-tary’s contributions towards ensuring peace, justice, freedom and prosperity of the nation.
“Boko Haram and insurgency in the North-East has now been degraded militarily; the insurgents no longer hold territory and can no longer launch military-style attacks as they had done in the past.”
Expressing the gratitude of the nation to the military, the President declared: “We are confident and we pray that with God on our side, the armed forces will not only complete the work that they have started especially the military offensive against insurgency. “They will also, in due course, continue to render the kind of service that they have rendered to our great nation and even better in the years to come.
The president extended the nation’s gratitude to the families of the fallen heroes, their wives and children, saying, anyone not in their shoes will not understand the gravity of their loss.
According to the president, the armed forces reputation, courage and service had often been noted not only at home but, also, abroad especially their contributions to several peace-keeping missions. He specifically mentioned Nigeria contingent heroic operations in Congo, Liberia, Si¬erra Leone and Darfur.
According to him, at the end of last year, Nigeria had about 2,972 troops active in various UN missions and is one of the top 10 contributors of troops to the UN across the world and top five in the African continent.
President Buhari said his administration was confident that they would maintain “the backing and even step up such support where needed as the nation advanced into the final stage of combating the current insurgency in the North-East.”