The Nigerian Military has denied reports that suggest it’s considering seeking assistance from the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) to help rescue the over 300 abducted schoolboys of Government Science Secondary School (GSSS) Kankara, Katsina State.
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A top military officer had confided in ARISE News sister publication, THISDAY, and said that one of the options being considered is for the federal government to seek assistance from the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) to launch a rescue bid leveraging on its sophisticated technology for such operation.
But Major-general John Enenche, the coordinator, media operations of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters debunked the report and said there were no such plans.
“You’ve asked whether we’ve made any request to AFRICOM, for me, I will tell you no, not to my knowledge, because I am monitoring the situation, I work with them in my position as coordinator of defence operations and up till this morning, there’s been nothing like that to the best of my knowledge,” Enenche said when he appeared on ARISE News.
He said efforts are in top gear to ensure that the abducted children are rescued unhurt, and also dismissed claims by Boko Haram that it masterminded the abduction of the pupils last Friday.
According to Enenche, the acclaimed leader of Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau is a brand.
“Efforts are in the highest speed to ensure that the children come out unhurt and that we don’t record any loss of life particularly amongst them. All the security agencies in that location are all working assiduously and keeping tabs on the situation and tracking the criminals to ensure that the children are brought out alive,” he said
“We dismissed the claims of Boko Haram on the basis of the characteristics of terrorists all over the whole world. Wherever they will boost their egos or show relevance, that’s what they’ll do and now you talk about an audio clip, where someone says I am Shekau.
“Shekau on a secondary note is a brand and all that needs to be done is somebody using his voice. So the total aim of terrorists is to instill fear into the people living beyond their scope of influence. So it’s in their character to show relevance and it’s easy for the layman to believe that it is them,” he said.
By Abel Ejikeme
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