Nigeria said on Wednesday that 36 towns had been retaken from Boko Haram since the start of a four-nation military offensive, voicing hope that the operation could lead to the group’s “total defeat”.
National security spokesman Mike Omeri said four towns had fallen since last Friday, including three in Borno state and Buni Yadi, in neighbouring Yobe state, where the insurgents slaughtered more than 40 students in February last year before seizing it in August.
Crucial “cooperations and alliances” have led to victories over the Islamist rebels, he said, thanking neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger for cutting off “the supply lines of the terrorists”.
“It is hoped that the unfolding regional cooperation will hasten the total defeat and extermination of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the sub-region,” he added.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington, the head of Nigeria’s National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke, said the militants still controlled four local government areas.
He said he was optimistic that in a matter of weeks Boko Haram would no longer be in control of any territory, even if the government admits that bombings and gun attacks are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
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