Buhari says end of terrorism is in sight despite Abuja blasts

President Muhammadu Buhari, Saturday restated the commitment of his administration to curb extremism and eradicate violence in the country.

In a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday at the presidential villa, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said after receiving briefing from a team of government officials he sent to carry out on-the-spot assessment of the bomb blasts recorded in Kuje and Nyanya parts of the Federal Capital Territory on Friday evening, the president said that for terrorism to be uprooted from the country, the society must be rid of violent extremism.

According to the statement, Buhari insisted that the end of insurgency was in sight despite the latest attacks.

The President urged members of the public to be cautious of security in and around them and sympathized with the families of the victims of the blasts as well as families of the more than a hundred others who were killed in similar incidents a few days ago in Borno State.

“The defeat of Boko Haram insurgency is in sight but to remove violence and make the country safe, we must tackle the prevalence of violent extremism. In doing this, we will learn from the experience of the international community,” the President said.

Buhari was also said to have directed security agencies to raise their surveillance activities to meet the challenges of what he called “a retreating, desperate terrorist army.”

Meanwhile, members of the presidential delegation comprising the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and that of the Federal Capital Territory as well as the police commissioner in charge of the FCT, were said to have visited the scenes of the blasts in Kuje and Nyanya and also victims of the incidents at the National Hospital and the Maitama General Hospital.