(Magnus Eze, ABUJA)
The Federal Government has said that reports of the appointment of a new leader for Boko Haram by the Islamic State was mere propaganda, adding that it was too late to employ such tactics to revive the defeated Nigerian terrorist group.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Segun Adeyemi, quoted Alhaji Lai Mohammed remarks at the on-going All Nigerian Conference of Editors (ANEC) 2016 in Port Harcourt, that the insurgents had been thoroughly defeated and were on the run.
”By the way, don’t believe the cheap propaganda by the global terrorist group ISIS, which has reportedly named a new leader for Boko Haram. Our gallant military has put Boko Haram on the run and nothing will bring back the terrorists, not even the wishful thinking by ISIS,” the Minister stated.
In a related development, the army insisted that the terrorist group has been completely crushed in the North east.
An Army spokesman who appeared on “Politics Nationwide”, a Radio Nigeria breakfast programme in Abuja on Thursday, said that the appointment of a new leader, if any, meant nothing as the armed forces were fully in control of every part of the region.
Reports have alleged that the Islamic State, to which Boko Haram is affiliated, has named Abu Musab Al-Barnawi as the new leader of Boko Haram.