According to Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Salihu Ali, the Theatre Commander of the North East Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), the recent naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has significantly decreased terrorist activities in the North East.
During an interactive session at the OPHK headquarters in Maiduguri, on Tuesday, February 21, the Army chief addressed the impact of the new cash swap policy in response to questions from members of the Borno State Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) pertaining to the challenges brought about by the policy.
Ali stated, “On the money swap issue, I think it’s a good policy, it’s helping, and you can see of course the issue of kidnapping since the implementation of the policy has drastically reduced. On the part of the terrorists, what we are getting now is some of them are kidnapping people in these areas forcing them to give them ransom in cash and foodstuff because they don’t have access to these things. So, it’s a very good policy that needs to be sustained.”
In response to the circulating videos on social media where terrorists threatened to attack people on election day, the commandant assured that they were aware of it and would take action to counter the threat.
Ali emphasized that such videos were expected from the terrorists during significant events like elections and called for enhanced collaboration with the media to combat the Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of terrorism in the country.