Govt silent on Chad’s alleged complicity in terrorists’ activities

•Minister insists Boko Haram is decimated
COMPLETE silence on what intelligence sources have said is the reason the insurgency in the North East persists was the response from the government yesterday on alleged Chadian complicity in terrorists’ activities on Nigerian soil.

It has been quietly alleged that the lukewarm attitude of the Chadian government, headed by Idris Derby, the current African Union (AU) chairman, is responsible for the resurgence in Boko Haram activities, whenever they are thought to have been decimated.

Military and intelligence sources have often reported that when the terrorists are chased, they easily find their way into the Chadian Republic from where they resurface to launch attacks.

After nearly six weeks of seeking government position on the issue and hitting a brick wall, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was asked at a press conference yesterday by The Guardian to give the government view of the story making the rounds among war analysts and strategists that Chad was frustrating Nigeria’s efforts. But the minister declined, though he called yesterday’s press conference to speak on the incessant resurgence of terrorism. He told journalists that the alleged complicity of Chad was “completely beyond the scope of the press conference.”

In his address earlier, he reiterated the efforts made by the administration, in the past nine months, to effectively tackle Boko Haram.

He categorically maintained that the recent spate of attacks by Boko Haram is not an indication of any resurgence by Boko Haram, insisting that the terrorist group remains largely decimated, dispersed and disoriented.