There will be no more delays in the Nigerian elections after Boko Haram is crushed, Nigerian's national security advisor said after the government voted to delay the presidential elections by six weeks as the insurgency threat is addressed.
"All known Boko Haram camps will be taken out (after six weeks)," Nigerian national security adviser Sambo Dasuki told the AFP shortly after the postponement of the elections was announced.
"They won't be there. They will be dismantled," Dasuki vowed.
Dasuki succeeded in convincing government officials in Nigeria over the weekend to postpone the elections, originally scheduled for this Saturday, to March 28 to give time to the multi-national force being deployed to combat the growing threat of the Islamist group.
Even if the Boko Haram is not completely eradicated by March 28, Dasuki told the AFP that by then, "the situation .. would surely be conducive enough for elections" and will not require another postponement of the polling dates.
Officials unanimously voted to postpone over concerns that Boko Haram could disrupt the February 14 elections in Maiduguri, the state capital of Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, which the extremist group has reportedly surrounded.
The Associated Press reported on the weekend that millions of people could be disenfranchised in Maiduguri in the event that Boko Haram launches an attack on the day of the polls, as Nigerian official Bashir Yusuf admits the military does not have the resources to provide security to the city during the elections.
Having carried out a sustained four-year insurgency against Nigeria, Boko Haram has now widened its operations to include Nigeria's neighbours, Niger and Cameroon.
Niger, largely spared until now from Boko Haram's violence, was attacked by militants on Monday just before the parliament voted to deploy 750 troops to the multi-national force, the AFP reported. The attack targeted the prison in Diffa in southeastern Niger, but was foiled by Niger's security forces.
