President Muhammadu Buhari has called for the involvement of civilians’ cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram menace through the use of traditional security methods in routing out terrorists.
The president said eyes and ears must be on ground as vital strategies to counter every move of the terrorists that have changed their strategy of occupying territories to suicide bombing.
“The ward head, the village head and the local police knew every new entrant into the community.
“They kept tabs on them and detected traits of criminality before evil-doers got the chance to act against (the) common interest. We must go back to those rudimentary acts of local policing…
“In this new phase of war, all of us are generals, all of us are foot soldiers, and all of us are intelligence officers,” the president said.
Buhari has ordered the military to end the Boko Haram menace in December. Reports show that more than 17,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million have been rendered homeless as a result of the insurgency.
According to a security expert, Abdullahi Bawa Wase, the alliance with local, security agencies and traditional chiefs would work out perfectly.
He told Agence France-Presse that the use of locals have helped to foil plots by Boko Haram to carry out several attacks that would have led to casualties of great magnitude.
