The Federal Government warned on Friday that
Boko Haram terrorists, who have been beaten
and put on the run by the military, are planning
another sensational abduction of pupils/students
or foreigners in a desperate effort to raise funds,
through ransom, for food, medical and arms
supply.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said
the planned abduction is in line with the terrorists'
new modus operandi of focusing on soft targets,
having being routed from their stronghold and their
capacity to stage spectacular attacks substantially
degraded.


He said while the largely defeated terrorists have
now concentrated their attacks on soft targets, like
motor parks, schools and entertainment centres,
they have been decimated to a level that they are now incapable of staging spectacular attacks like they used to do.

''The kidnap of the Chibok girls in 2014, which attracted global attention to the terrorist group, is
what it is now trying to repeat, hoping it can find vulnerable targets, especially schools, or a group of foreigners outside the frontline states.

''The plan by Boko Haram is also part of an overall
strategy by the terrorists to seek to negatively impact on the psyche of the gallant troops who have routed them (terrorists) from their stronghold and also give the impression that they have not been largely defeated by the December 2015 deadline given by this Administration to effectively degrade the insurgency in the North-east.

''This is why we have decided to issue this alert to
enable the authorities of both public primary and
secondary schools in remote locations, particular in
the Northern states, to upgrade security arrangements.

''It is also aimed at alerting the general public,
operators of hotels and entertainment centres,
motor parks and similar facilities to also upgrade
their security arrangements for the holidays,'' the
Minister said.

He assured that the Federal Government will build on the successes recorded by the military, which has largely met the deadline to degrade the capability of Boko Haram.

''Smoked out of their hideouts and badly bruised by
our gallant military, the Boko Haram terrorists are
desperate, especially in the face of the depletion of
their food supplies. In their desperation, they will not hesitate to embark on actions they feel can still make them relevant or enhance their survival. But the military is ready and able to prevent that,'' the
Minister said.

Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon. Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Dec. 18th 2015