Terror war: Weather, logistics hampering operations, military tells Buhari

Terror war: Weather, logistics hampering operations, military tells Buhari
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By Our Reporter  on October 20, 2015   National
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The hope of routing Boko Haram by end of December seems remote as the military told President Muhammadu Buhari how the current weather conditions in parts of the country and some logistics issue have been hampering the terror war.
 The service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, briefed the president on this and other security issues during a meeting at the Presidential Villa.
 Speaking to State House correspondents, Olonisakin said the meeting was held to review the terrorism war in the North-east as well as the December deadline the President set for them to end insurgency.
“We briefed the President on the security situation on ground after a 60-day review and we had to brief him on the challenges we have and ensure that the mandate we have is properly delivered.
“Of course, the challenges we are looking at are the issues of probably the weather as it were and some other logistics that we feel we should have so that the mandate can be quickly delivered,” he said.
 On whether they are considering seeking extension for the December deadline to end insurgency, Olonisakin said: “We have not said that. The mandate is that we should clear Boko Haram from the occupied territories and ensure that we reclaim all the lost grounds. That is exactly what we are doing.”
On the feasibility of the deadline considering the challenges enumerated, Olonisakin said: “It is a military operation and military operations have timelines and these timelines, we are working on them assiduously.”
He said the United States and the United Kingdom had been helping the nation’s troops in capacity building, adding that any additional tangible assistance from the countries would be made public.