Buhari made this call in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Fielding questions on the country’s security problems, Buhari stated that his administration acquired fighter jets from the United States and engaged in intelligence sharing with the United Kingdom to prosecute the war against insurgency in the country.
He noted that previous administrations did not enjoy such privileges from the West.
Buhari said terrorists no longer hold any territory in Nigeria unlike what obtained in 2015 when “Boko Haram held territory the size of Belgium within the borders of Nigeria.”
The President claimed that “the leader of ISWAP (Islamic State’s West Africa Province) was eliminated by a Nigerian Airforce airstrike in March,” and other leaders of terrorist organisations in the country were deceased.
He, however, appealed to the Western allies to designate the IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
“In 2015, Boko Haram held territory the size of Belgium within the borders of Nigeria. Today they are close to extinct as a military force. The leader of ISWAP was eliminated by a Nigerian Airforce airstrike in March. The jets acquired from the US and intelligence shared by British were not provided to previous administrations and stand as testament to renewed trust re-built between Nigeria and our traditional western allies under my government.
“We urge those same international partners to take additional steps costing them nothing, by proscribing another group – IPOB – as a terrorist organisation,” Buhari said.
The Nigerian President added that the leadership of the IPOB “enjoys safe haven in the West, broadcasting hate speech into Nigeria from London, spending millions lobbying members of the US Congress, and freely using international financial networks to arm agitators on the ground.”
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