The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd), has said the need to follow due process was responsible for the delay by the Federal Government in declaring bandits as terrorists.
He stated this when he spoke with newsmen at the end of an assessment visit to the North East theatre of operation.
Magashi, who spoke on Friday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said there was a procedure that needed to be observed before such a declaration.
He said: “We are not declaring them terrorists because there is a procedure for doing that.
“When the procedure is followed, they will be classified as terrorists.
“We are waiting for the procedure to be completed.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Minister, who was in Maiduguri with the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and Service Chiefs on an assessment visit of the fight against insurgency in the North East, expressed satisfaction with the successes so far recorded.
He said his team met with the Theatre Commander and other component commanders to deliberate on the next phase of operations, adding that the meeting also identified problems that required urgent attention to enhance the operations.
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