London (AFP) - Nigeria has begun the "final onslaught" against Boko Haram, the country's national security spokesman said on Tuesday, after the militants were ousted from the strategic town of Bama.
On a visit to London, Mike Omeri
told AFP that "significant strategic military successes and gains" had
been made against the Islamists in recent weeks.
"Bama
(the second biggest town in Borno state) was retaken yesterday (Monday)
and we have Abadam, Gwoza and Askira as part of the remaining areas
where we still have this presence," he said.
Abadam,
Gwoza and Askira are also in Borno, which has been worst hit by six
years of violence and was under emergency rule from May 2013 to November
last year with neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa.
The
military announced that Adawama was "cleared" last Friday and that Yobe
was retaken on Monday from Boko Haram, who have pledged allegiance to
the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
There
was no independent verification of the claimed successes, which
followed the deployment last month of troops from Cameroon, Chad and
Niger, as well as foreign mercenaries.
The
operation not only aims at reducing the regional threat from the
militants, after several cross-border attacks in recent months, but also
to secure the northeast for elections to be held.
Voting was initially
scheduled for February 14 but was rescheduled to March 28 because of the
counter-offensive on the grounds that soldiers would not be available
to provide security on polling day.
Omeri
refused to be drawn on when the insurgency would be declared over,
although President Goodluck Jonathan said in an interview published last
Wednesday that Borno would be free in three weeks.
"As
for the other three areas (Abadam, Gwoza and Askira), help is coming,"
said Omeri, who announced last week that 36 towns had been recaptured
from Boko Haram.
"Soldiers are still out there working hard and we're en route to the final onslaught because it has started already from Bama."
The insurgency has left more than 13,000 people dead since 2009 and forced some 1.5 million others to flee their homes.
But
Omeri said that once the affected communities were free, "they will be
advised to return home and continue with their lives".
- Voter security -
Jonathan
is facing a stiff challenge from the main opposition candidate
Muhammadu Buhari, a former miliary ruler who has attacked the
president's record on tackling Boko Haram.
Buhari,
who headed a military government for 20 months from December 1983, has
accused Jonathan of consistently failing to provide leadership.
Chief
among the retired general and his party's complaints have been an
alleged lack of support and equipment provided to soldiers, which only
recently seems to have been rectified.
The
opposition has also voiced fears for the integrity of the overall
result if the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the violence
in its northeast stronghold are disenfranchised.
Repeated bomb and suicide attacks in recent weeks have raised fears about the safety of polling stations.
But Omeri told a separate news conference: "We are confident there will be a level of security to enable citizens to vote."Boko Haram were now "running with their tails between their legs", he added, indicating that the militants were being contained within the northeast.
"Boko Haram are
not being pushed into neighbouring countries, we are pushing them to an
area where we are finding a solution to their menace," he said
Reports
have suggested that Boko Haram fighters were amassing in Gwoza, which
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared part of a caliphate last year
and is considered the group's headquarters.
On
private military contractors, including South Africans who have been
seen alongside Nigerian troops in the northeast, Omeri denied reports
that some have been fighting on the front line.
He maintained their presence was only for training purposes and no mercenaries were involved.
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