A group of Professionals from the North, Arewa Restoration Alliance on Thursday said the North will continue to lag behind until it deals with the present security challenges.
The Group stated this at the end of its meeting in Abuja where it called on people of the region to support ongoing military operations to end the security challenges.
President of the Group, Muktar Danfulani noted that presently it is difficult for any organisation or foreign country to consider the North for economic investments due to the security challenges.
He said the people should rally round the Armed Forces of Nigeria under the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.
He commended the AFN for successes against the non-state actors who have refused to lay down arms.
“We want to commend the Armed Forces of Nigeria under the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa for the arrest of two leaders of Ansaru, an al-Qaeda franchise in Nigeria, Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, and Mahmud al-Nigeria, notoriously known as Mallam Mamuda.
“Abu Bara’a was the overall coordinator of the group’s sleeper cells across Nigeria and mastermind of several kidnappings and terrorist financing operations, while al-Nigeria headed the notorious “Mahmudawa” faction of Ansaru based in and around Kainji National Park and trained in Libya under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, “specialising in weapons handling and IED fabrication.”
“Meanwhile we commend troops who in separate operations across Sokoto and Adamawa States, rescued 23 kidnapped victims, including 17 girls abducted by bandits and six persons seized by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
“Similarly troops of Operation Hadin Kai repelled an attempted ambush by Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters along the Gubio–Damasak road in Borno State, killing 13 insurgents and recovering arms and ammunition.
“The attack, which occurred on Wednesday near Kareto in Mobbar Local Government Area, targeted a military convoy escorting humanitarian supplies to Damasak. The terrorists reportedly detonated two command Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) before opening fire on the convoy.
“We urge the Armed forces under our son, Gen. Musa to sustain the tempo and deal with individuals that refuse to surrender and give up arms,” the Alliance added.
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