Reason Behind Boko Haram’s Target On Students.

The trend of sneaking in to carry out
isolated attacks on soft targets like
students is a typical end-game strategy
often employed by insurgents all over the
world. This was made known by the
defence headquarters on wednesday.
They also said the killings of scores of
people in Borno and Yobe in the past few
days are signs that the Boko Haram
terrorists are losing the battle against
government forces.
Seven secondary school students and two
teachers were killed in Damaturu, the
Yobe State capital when gunmen, believed
to be Boko Haram, attacked a
government school on Sunday. A day
later, suspected Boko Haram gunmen
attacked two different locations, a school
and a fishing village, in Maiduguri, Borno
State capital, killing nine students and 13
fishermen.
In a statement signed by the Director of
Defence Information, Brigadier General
Chris Olukolade, the Nigerian military said
the recent activities are signs of
desperation of a decimated insurgent
group attempting to hang on to public
consciousness.
With the destruction of their operational
bases and camps by the Special Forces,
the group’s centre of gravity had been
effectively dislocated, he said. He said this
had made it impossible for the terrorists
to have freedom of action to operate as
they did previously.
The military also said eight of the
suspected terrorists have been
apprehended in the outskirts of
Maiduguri.
The statement said Special Forces have
stepped up the mop-up, cordon and
search operations “to ensure that the
vestiges of terrorism are effectively
decimated.
“The DHQ has noted a number of attacks
and killing of innocent citizens ostensibly
carried out by terrorists in Yobe and
Borno in the last couple of days.
“Although this isolated incidents were
undertaken by relocating terrorists, the
whole trend and development remains
unfortunate and condemnable.
“Nevertheless, the public is hereby
reassured that these incidences are by no
means indicative of a relapse in the
counter-insurgency operation aimed at
curbing terrorists’ activities in the
country.”
The military, however, urged the public to
continue to report any suspicious
movement to security agents.