Buhari accused of exaggerating Boko Haram losses

Nigeria’s president has exaggerated the military’s
success against Boko Haram, say officials in
northern Nigeria in response to an American
commander’s testimony that the Islamic extremist
group still holds territory.

President Muhammadu Buhari said in January
that Boko Haram is “currently not holding any
territory today as we speak.” His claim — made
at a summit in Abu Dhabi — was met with
skepticism in Nigeria.
Buhari’s claim was contradicted last week by
Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa
Command, who told the Senate Armed Services
Committee in Washington that Boko Haram “does
own some significant territory in northern
Nigeria.”
Rodriguez’s statement indicates that Nigeria’s
government is overstating its success in the
campaign to eliminate the extremists, a few
northern officials said this weekend.

“All we know is that Boko Haram lacks the
capacity to carry out their usual commando-like
attacks during which they march in and run down
towns or villages, but that is not enough to say
that they are not around,” said Ngari Modu, a
transport official in the Nganzai area of northeast
Borno state.

Modu, who stays in a camp for displaced persons
in the city of Maiduguri, said his home village and
surrounding areas remain “no-go” zones.
“We are left confused each time we hear soldiers
saying no territory is now under the control of
Boko Haram,” he said by telephone.
In the 10 months since he took office promising
to halt the insurgency, Buhari has replaced the
military’s leadership, resupplied soldiers and
moved the headquarters for the fight from the
distant capital, Abuja, to Maiduguri.
Sen.

Mohammed Ndume of Borno said that
Nigeria’s soldiers are succeeding in cutting off
Boko Haram’s access to food and supplies and
he is confident that eventually the military will
regain all territory from Boko Haram.