that no fewer than 8000 Boko Haram members
had voluntarily surrendered to its “Operation
Safe Corridor” in the North-East.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen.
Rabe Abubakar disclosed this at a lecture
organised by the FCT Correspondents’ Chapel of
the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The lecture with the theme, “Media-Military
Relationship in the Fight against Insurgency”, was
part of the activities marking the 2016 Press Week
of the chapel.
Abubakar said that the surrendered insurgents
were in a camp in Gombe waiting to be
“deradicalised’’ by the military.
The general also disclosed that more than 10,000
Boko Haram captives had been rescued by the
military.
He said some of them were reunited with their
families, while others were taken to Internally
Displaced Person’s (IDP) camps.
Abubakar said that Boko Haram had been
successfully decimated by the military and
government was working hard on the
rehabilitation of the victims and reconstruction of
the affected areas.
The general also said that the military would soon
launch “Operation Safe Corridor” to address the
menace of herdsmen across the country.
He assured that the military operation would put
an end to the wanton killings by the herdsmen.
Responding to questions on the recent action by
the military declaring some journalists wanted,
the general urged the media not to allow
sentiments to influence their judgment on the
issue.
He said the military should be allowed to do its
work while assuring that no member of the media
would be victimised unnecessarily.
Abubakar said that good military-media
relationship was crucial to winning the war
against insurgency.
He said the media drove public support for the
military which in turn had boosted the morale of
officers and the rank and file.
Earlier, the Secretary of NUJ in FCT, Hajia Rafat
Salami, said there was the need for the military
and the media to work together in the fight
against terrorism and other crimes.
She said the military must see the media as
partner in progress and not as enemy.
The Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel,
Raphael Ekpang, thanked the general for finding
time out of his tight schedule to share his
thoughts on the topic.
Source: PMNews
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