Presidency on Monday said that the nation’s military made use of United States fighter jets and intelligence provided by the British to eliminate the leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in March this year.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in a rebuttal to claims of the administration’s failure to deal with the various challenges facing the country,.
The statement said the cooperation between the world powers and the Nigerian military was an indication of the new-found trust enjoyed from the countries by Nigeria.
It affirmed that Nigeria like every other country in the world is undergoing a period of hardship.
The Presidency said any suggestion that the Buhari administration is not leaving Nigeria in a better place than it found it, especially on the key pillars of the economy, security and corruption, “is pure fantasy.”
The statement read in part: “The facts speak for themselves. On security, as recently as 2015 Boko Haram held territory the size of Belgium in Nigeria. Today they hold no Nigerian territory to speak of. In March our military eliminated the leader of ISWAP in an airstrike using U.S. jets and British intelligence – testament to the newfound trust our allies hold in our administration, not enjoyed by previous administrations.
“Moreover, our administration is the only in Nigeria’s history to implement a solution to the herder-farmer conflicts through our landmark National Livestock Transformation Plan. Already, where ranches have been established under that initiative, we are seeing a sharp reduction in disputes.”
