Nigerian president charges military to sustain fight against Boko Haram

Abuja: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari late on Wednesday expressed shock over the killing of at least 81 villagers by suspected Boko Haram militants in the northeast region and called on the military to sustain the fight against the terror group.

Mr Buhari charged the armed forces to sustain their recent string of successes against the terrorists to “extract a heavy price from the attackers and bring back all those they kidnapped, and a large number of cattle rustled.”

“The primordial nature of the killings is particularly shocking because it happened not long after the Ramadhan and Eid, and the country is preparing to celebrate the Democracy Day,” Mr Buhari said while condemning the incident.

Since 2009, Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria.