"We're pursuing Boko Haram round the bush", says Army

Theatre Commander of

Maj-Gen Nicholas made this reassurance while briefing the press about the army's ongoing Operation DEEP PUNCH II that's recorded success against the terrorist group in recent weeks.

When asked if terrorists had taken back the militants' primary base named Camp Zairo in Sambisa Forest after it was first overrun by the military in December 2016, Maj-Gen Nicholas said the group keeps changing bases.

He said, "Camp Zairo has been taken by our troops on several ocassions. This is an assymetric warfare; there's no boundary. We take it today, they leave the place and move to another place occupy it again. They continue to run round; but this time around, I've decided we're going to stay with them in that bush.

"We're pursuing them round the bush, so we're with them there."

During the briefing, Maj-Gen Nicholas also mentioned that the $1 billion controversially withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account is "grossly inadequate" because of the military costs of fighting the terrorists.

He further urged Boko Haram militants to come out of Sambisa Forest, lay down their arms and surrender to the Nigerian Army as they're fighting a lost cause.

ALSO READ: Why are we negotiating with dead terrorists, Mr President?

Boko Haram menace

Since the insurgency of the terrorist group escalated after a 2009 crackdown by the military, Boko Haram, chiefly under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, has been responsible for the death of over 20,000 people and the displacement of more than 2.5 million scattered across Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps across the country and its neighbours.

After a massive military operation resulted in the displacement of the group from its Camp Zairo base in the infamous Sambisa Forest, it has resorted to suicide bomb attacks on soft targets and carried out daring attacks on military bases, with hundreds of captives still unaccounted for.