Why Chad is cautioning Nigerians against sensationalizing its victory against Boko Haram
The Chadian Embassy in Nigeria has cautioned Nigerians against hampering the ‘excellent’ relationship between its President Idriss Deby Itno and President Muhammadu Buhari by sensationalising Chad’s victory over Boko Haram terrorists who unleash terror on Nigeria, Chad, Cameroun and Niger Republic.
The Embassy made the appeal following the reactions of Nigerians on the internet to the recent victory of the Chadian Army, led by President Idriss Deby, over Boko Haram insurgents.
Chadian President last week joined the country’s soldiers in the front line of the fight against Boko Haram terrorists in the country. Deby appeared in military fatigue as he led an operation codenamed “Operation Wrath of Bomo” to decimate the terrorists from Chadian territory.
The operation, which came after terrorists killed over 90 Chadian soldiers, led to the destruction of several Boko Haram bunkers, recovery of cache of arms and arrest of a top Boko Haram commander.
A video making the rounds on Twitter shows Deby saying Boko Haram’s factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, narrowly escaped during the offensive.
“Abubakar Shekau was lucky, he was at Dikoa during the attack. He fled from Dikoa but we know where he is,” President Deby said during a state broadcast.
Photos of the recovered arms have been circulating on the internet and have been widely shared by many Nigerians with captions mocking President Muhammadu Buhari who promised to “lead from the front” in the fight against Boko Haram during his 2015 campaign.
Worried by the outpouring of accolades from Nigerians for its President, the Chadian Embassy expressed concerns in a statement on Wednesday that such could hamper the diplomatic ties between the two neighbouring countries.
“The Embassy… hereby informs the public opinion that for some time now, misleading videos and images dating back to 2015, with dubious origins have been circulated on the web and in some online or print media designed to wrongly attribute to President Idris Deby Itno, completely distorted remarks, taken out of its context and alleging inaction or non-participation of the Nigerian army in the fight against Boko Haram,” the statement said.
“The Embassy of Chad strongly rejects and denounces this regrettable misinformation which only aims at deteriorating the excellent relations that exist between President Idris Deby Itno and President Muhammadu Buhari, as well as the cooperation and exemplary and dynamic interaction established between defense and security forces if both sister and neighbouring countries.”
The statement added: “The Embassy trusts it can rely on all categories of press organisations to adequately explain the stakes related to the common destiny of both countries towards sub-regional and continental integration. Nothing can distract both countries and people from their goal which is to restore peace, security and stability in the whole sub-region for a sustainable development mutually profitable.”
