2,000 lives lost to terrorists in 180 days. FG.

The Federal Government has said about 2,000 lives, including security personnel and foreigners, had been lost to terrorists activities in the last 180 days.

The government said it  was concerned that such number of persons had died, but added that the operations to “degrade the terrorists command structure to weaken their effectiveness’’ had recorded success.

The National Coordinator, National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, who stated this while giving an update on government’s efforts to rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls on Tuesday in Abuja, explained that the FG would not disclose the operational strategies for the rescue of the abducted girls in spite of agitation by some individuals and groups in the country.

He claimed that some successes had been recorded in the effort as well as in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.

Omeri said though government was willing to provide credible information on the anti-terror campaign, “operational reality does not permit unbridled disclosure of operational plans and strategies…as some agitators have continued to advocate.”

According him, other plans that cannot be disclosed include the day-by-day account of troops’ movement, engagement and deployment of hardware.

The NIC Coordinator listed the efforts to combat terrorists to  include the dispatch of troops to carry out land and aerial surveillance and occasional bombardment of insurgents locations and enlistment of foreigner partners.

Others, he said, were regional collaboration, activities of activist groups such as the BringBackOurGirls and recent diplomatic shuttle by President Goodluck Jonathan to some neighbouring countries and outside the continent.

Omeri appealed to Nigerians to support government’s effort to end terrorism in the country, and rescue the girls, rather than distracting the government.