October 16 – By this date, Boko Haram and its terrorist activities would have declined significantly, according to Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan.
While making the promise on September 18, however, the president was more careful than he had been in the past. At least on two previous occasions in the last two years, he had set a deadline for terrorist activities in the country to expire only for the deadly gang to step up its attacks as the deadline approached.
The new deadline appears realistic, as even the gang’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, is said to have been killed in combat. But there is no assurance that there won’t be a resurgence of terrorist attacks after mid-October.
