Yakubu Gowon Says No One Can Tell When Boko Haram Will End, Dismisses Buhari’s Deadline

Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, Tuesday said no one was sure when the Boko Haram insurgency will end.

He expressed worry that the insurgents have resorted to using underage and innocent children as suicide bombers. His remarks dismisses Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and the chief of army staff had said the activities of Boko Haram will end in December 2015..

“May the spirits of these poor little children who are being brainwashed to carry out such heinous crimes rest in peace,” he added.

He was reacting to the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the military to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the country before the end of December this year.

Gowon, who said the Nigerian military will do its best to meet the December deadline, however, maintained that nobody can really and confidently talk about the particular time any military operation was going to end.

He spoke in Abakaliki when he led an advocacy visit to Governor Dave Umahi on malaria and four other neglected tropical diseases.

His words: “I can tell you this, nobody can really talk about when any particular operation is going to end. And as a Commander-in-Chief, I know this.’

“Yes, you can say you target a particular time, but it may finish before that time or it may go slightly beyond. To end it, that is the most important thing.”