Over 500 clerics yesterday declared a 40-day fasting in Abuja to pray for the capture of Boko Haram kingpin, Abubakar Shekau.
The clerics of different religions from across the nation also urged prayers for the safe return of the remaining Chibok girls.
The Guardian reports that the National Coordinator of the team, Bishop Musa Fomson, said the prayer became necessary following the order by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai that Shekau must be captured dead or alive.
According to Fomson, who addressed newsmen at the Unity Fountain in Abuja after the prayer, it is time for God to intervene in the menace posed by the terrorists.
He said it was the intercessory prayers by the Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organisations for Peace that reduced the abduction of women and children in the area.
“We have a God who answers prayers, not just prayer of the saints, but who also gave further revelations on the action that our group is taking on behalf of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force has disclosed that logistics and manpower have been put in place to dislodge the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
The Commander, Air Component of the Operation Lafia Dole, Tajudeen Oladele Yusuf disclosed this yesterday in Yola during his second quarter news conference.
Yusuf said the command has commenced a renewed day and night air tactical operation to dislodge the insurgency.
“To ensure that there is no breathing space for all insurgency activities, my command’s strategy would locate and attack their operations for the total elimination of Boko Haram,” said.
The commander explained that his personnel who sustained different degrees of injuries in battle are undergoing treatment, while some have been discharge and ready for combat operations.
“For our air operations that lasted 1,256 hours and nine minutes, we spent N344.4 million in the fueling of our fighter jets. This would give you a mental picture that we are not relenting in our efforts to ensure that insurgency becomes history in the northeast,” he said.
He, however, lamented that the recent heavy rainfall and thunder strike in the region created some problems for his operations.
Yusuf hinted that the command has adopted a new strategy to ensure effective operations even during heavy downpour to prevent the enemies from taking advantage of the situation.
He further explained that the command has commenced the daily feeding of 1000 school pupils, to encourage them to attend school, adding that the feeding would last for eight months.
The commander stressed that the Airforce medical team has carried out 201 successful surgical operations for victims of insurgency in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp across Borno State.
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