BOKO HARAM PLANS TO ABDUCT MORE STUDENTS - Lai Mohammed Alerts

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, alerts on Friday in a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Segun Adeyemi, that Boko Haram terrorists that Boko Haram terrorists were planning another abduction of pupils so as to broker for ransom to raise funds for the group.

The minister said that the statement is aimed at alerting the general public, operators of hotels and entertainment centres, motor parks and similar facilities to also upgrade their security arrangements for the holidays.“Smoked out of their hideouts and badly bruised by our gallant military, the Boko Haram terrorists are desperate, especially in the face of the depletion of their food supplies"


"This is why we have decided to issue this alert to enable the authorities of both public primary and secondary schools in remote locations, particularly in the Northern states, to upgrade their security arrangements,’’

The minister also said, “The kidnap of the Chibok girls in 2014 which attracted global attention to the terrorist group is what it is now trying to repeat, hoping it can find vulnerable targets, especially schools, or a group of foreigners outside the frontline states".

“The plan by Boko Haram is also part of an overall strategy by the terrorists to seek to negatively impact on the psyche of the gallant troops who have routed them (terrorists) from their stronghold.

“And also give the impression that they have not been largely defeated by the December 2015 deadline given by this Administration to effectively degrade the insurgency in the North-East".

He said because the terrorist have been significantly defeated by the Nigeria Arm, "they are now incapable of staging spectacular attacks like they used to do", they are planning to use any tactic that will make it look like they are still relevant "but the military is ready and able to prevent that,’’ and he assured that the Federal Government would use the successes recorded by the military which had largely met the deadline to degrade the capability of the terrorists.