President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday flew straight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he attended a summit of the African Union to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State for a “sympathy visit,” over the killing of over 30 persons by Boko Haram insurgents about three days ago.
Mr. Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity announced the president’s arrival in Maiduguri in a Tweet on Wednesday afternoon.
“12:45pm. President Buhari, aboard the BBJ from Addis Ababa just landed in Maiduguri. He is paying a sympathy visit to the government and people of Borno following the recent horrific incident in which BH terrorists killed several travelers,” Mr Shehu wrote.
The President, who described the attack as “murderous and cowardly said his “administration is ever determined to frustrate their goal to hold Nigeria to ransom’’.
“The commitment of this administration to protect the lives of Nigerians will not be derailed by the cowardly and indiscriminate violence against innocent people by Boko Haram terrorists,’’ he said, while reacting to recent attacks in Maiduguri.
He also condoled with the government of the state, warns “that terrorists are clearly on a back foot and their days are numbered’’.
“As our armed forces continue to receive more hardware and intelligence to counter our current security challenges, the remnants of Boko Haram will ultimately be crushed. The peculiar challenges of asymmetric warfare notwithstanding, our armed forces are ever determined to defeat these enemies of humanity,’’ President Buhari said.