We May Not Meet December Deadline, Service Chiefs Tell Buhari

The December deadline given to the Nigerian Army by
president Mohammadu Buhari to completely rout out Boko Haram insurgents in the
North east may not be feasible after all, as Service Chiefs on Monday told the
president that their effort was being threatened by weather and logistics.

The Service Chiefs however did not specifically ask for
extension of time.

Speaking to State House Correspondents on behalf of the
Chiefs after a Security meeting with president Buhari at the presidential villa
in Abuja to brief him on the efforts of the military so far in the troubled
north east, the Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, Abayomi Olonishakin and the
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Alhaji Ismalia Aliyu, said the
military was still on course despite the challenges.

Olonishakin said: “It is a normal consultation to intimate
him of the issues on ground we briefed him on the security situation on ground
after a 60-day review and we had to brief him on the challenges we have and
ensure that the mandate we have is properly delivered.

“Of course, the challenges we are looking at are the issues
of probably the weather as it were and some other logistics that we feel we
should have so that the mandate can be quickly delivered. He is very excited,
very happy. As for our request, he gave the mandate.

Extension of the deadline?

“We have not said that. The mandate is that we should clear
Boko Haram from the occupied territories and ensure that we reclaim all the
lost grounds. That is exactly what we are doing.

Is the mandate feasible?

“It is a military operation and military operations have
time-lines and these time-lines, we are working on the assiduously”.

Vanguard