Boko Haram designed to destroy Nigeria — Buhari

PUNCH

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday, described the Boko Haram group and its attendant ideology — which abhors Western education — as a “fraudulent plot” designed to “destroy Nigeria.”

Buhari’s comments come barely 48 hours after he alleged a “deliberate plot” to destroy the country, which failed.

Officially known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, the Boko Haram sect is an Islamic terrorist organisation that has troubled Nigeria’s north with targeted bombings and offensives since 2009.

Boko Haram, literally translating to “Western Education is forbidden” discourages involvement in any form of secularism, including secular education.

According to Buhari, the Nigerian Armed Forces has degraded the sect significantly since 2015.

“I just came back from Adamawa and Yobe States. During the visit to both states, I listened carefully to what the people and officials had to say. And they all said the situation had improved since 2015, especially in Borno State.

“Boko Haram was just fraudulent and a plot to destroy Nigeria. You can’t say people should not learn; the people need to grow intellectually,’’ he said when he received Executive members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria at the State House, Abuja.

The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Wednesday, titled ‘Count on us to further improve security, reposition economy before leaving office, President Buhari assures.’

Buhari told the Clergymen that the government is now focused on rebuilding infrastructure and re-orientation on education in the northeast.

He also promised that the gains recorded in security will be further consolidated, and more attention will be given to the economy, before handing over on May 29, 2023.

“I am very grateful for your visit to the Presidential Villa, and I agree with you on some of the observations you have made. The question of insecurity is most important to us because unless a country or institution is at peace, it will be difficult to manage.

“I just came back from Adamawa…