President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigerian troops have driven Boko Haram terrorists from the last camp in their Sambisa forest hideout.
“The terrorists are on the run and no longer have a place to hide,” President Buhari said in a statement signed by his spokesman, Femi Adesina in which he congratulated the miitary for the feat.
According to the statement, the sect’s camp fell at 13:35 on Friday.
The army has been engaged for the last few weeks in a major offensive in the forest, a huge former colonial game reserve in north-eastern Borno state.
There has been speculation that some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in 2014 were being held in the forest.
Some of the abducted girls who escaped shortly after they were seized said they had been kept there.
The army has recaptured significant areas of territory previously controlled by Boko Haram since an offensive began in February.
“I want to use this opportunity to commend the determination, courage and resilience of troops of Operation Lafiya Dole at finally entering and crushing the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents,” he said.
