Buratai arrives Maiduguri to tackle Boko Haram insurgents

Following the directive by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo after his meeting with the service chiefs, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai on Tuesday arrived Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in line with the directive.

This is according to reports by  Daily Post which also revealed Buratai is the first to arrive in Maiduguri among the service chiefs.

The presidential directive follows the kidnap of members of the NNPC oil exploration team who were ambushed by suspected Boko Haram gun men around Jibi village in Borno state after a gun duel between the security agents accompanying them and the suspected Boko Haram fighters.

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However, in a related development, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Prof. Ibrahim Njodi has come out to state that the Boko Haram threat will not deter them from continuing research work in the Lake Chad basin targeted at oil discovery although the NNPC itself has said exploration work will be suspended until the security situation in the region improves.

Boko Haram, which attained international notoriety after kidnapping 270 girls from their school in the town of Chibok in 2014, is trying to create an Islamic state in the Lake Chad Basin area.

At least 62 people have been killed in Maiduguri and its environs since early June, in renewed bombing attacks. Seventeen people were killed in the city in one week this month.