Boko Haram must be defeated at all costs – Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, vowed that his administration would not relent in its fight against terror until normalcy was restored in every part of the country.

President Jonathan said this in Abuja at a special interdenominational service to mark Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

Represented by the Senate President, David Mark, Dr Jonathan expressed satisfaction at the extent of achievement of the Special Forces fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

According to him, the operation would end once terrorists were completely rooted out.

He said: “Report reaching me indicates that our security forces are painstakingly reversing the negative trend of insurgency in the three affected states and their environs. I want to assure Nigerians that this administration is up to the task and we will not relent until peace and normalcy returns to the affected states. We will return sanity and peace to the streets of Nigeria, and we will defeat all the threats to our corporate existence.

“My prayer to the family of our brave service men and women and all those who have lost their lives during the internal crisis in the nation, their memory will linger on in our hearts and to the unfortunate victims of the family, the churches, the mosques and those who lost possessions to the attack by insurgency, as a great nation, let me assure you that we will stand by you”.

Also speaking, the Director of National Issues of Christians Association of Nigeria, Revd William Okoye, noted that the country found itself in the present situation, because of declining in societal values.

He said: “The declining of societal values largely responsible for collection of conflicts, we witnessed in our lives. The churches will address moral decay in our society, by launching all denominational campaign for the restoration of values.”