Kidnapping has significantly decreased after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) implemented the naira redesign policy, according to Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Salihu Ali, the Theatre Commander of the North East Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK).
According to him, terrorists have been subdued and are now collecting ransom in foodstuff instead of cash.
The Army chief disclosed this while answering questions from members of the Borno State Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on the hardship brought by the new cash swap policy, during an interactive session at the OPHK headquarters in Maiduguri, on Tuesday, February 21.
“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,” he said
On the video making rounds on social media of terrorists threatening to attack people on election day, the commandant said they were aware of it and would be countered by the operation.
He said such videos were not unexpected from the terrorists when big events like elections are taking place. Ali called for more collaboration with the media to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of terrorism in the country.