Nigeria's defence chief on Friday vowed to rid the country of fundamentalist uprisings after his troops' defeat of Islamist sect members in the north in clashes that left hundreds dead.
Chief of defence staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, said the army would do all it could to clear the country of Islamist extremism, a day after the leader of a self-styled Taliban sect was shot dead following his capture.
"I assure Nigerians… the military will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that no such incidents occur," Dike told reporters.
"We are up to the task, as we have the capability to crush any breach of Nigerian security," he said after touring Maiduguri, where much of the fighting took place.
Maiduguri saw the worst of the unrest in northern Nigeria, which had started on Sunday in nearby Bauchi state.
Nigerian troops completed their rout of the rebels and ended the fighting on Thursday.
"Normalcy has returned to this city but we have ordered security agencies to do all within their power to fish out remnants of these troublemakers," Borno state governor Ali Modu Sheriff told reporters.
At least 600 people were killed in the five days of clashes between security forces and militants in Borno and three other northern states, according to figures from police and witnesses.
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