Nigerian Army says it may relax restrictions placed on some insurgency prone areas in the Northeast.

Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, with the degradation of the Boko Haram insurgents, says it is possible to review and relax some restriction placed on human and vehicular movement in some parts of the region.

Buratai who spoke through Director of Operations Department, Brigadier-General Bassey Etuk, made this known during an interactive session with House Committee on Army.

Chairman of the Committee, Riman Shawulu of PDP, Taraba, in his opening remarks said the meeting was at the instance of a motion on the inability of farmers in Yobe State to access Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS ) to power generating plants used on their farms.

In addition, the House also mandated the Committee to lias with the Army on the inability of farmers in some parts of Adamawa State to access fertilizer due to restrictions orders by the Nigerian Army.

According to the Committee, 95 percent of Yobe State population, who were farmers, could not access petrol due to restrictions from the Army.

The Committee proposed that the farmers could access the product in jerry cans through their Village heads to prevent it getting into the hands of insurgents.

On the complaints of farmers in Adamawa south that have not experienced Boko Haram insurgency but equally affected by restriction on movement of fertilzer, the Committee requested the Army to consider relaxing the restriction in order to prevent possible outbreak of famine in the area.

Buratai, in his response said the affected areas were in the three States that constitute the theater of operation of Operation Lafiya Dole and the military was aware that the decimated insurgents use the products in question to carty out their nefarious activities on motorcycle and other means to infiltrate and destroy communities.

Saying the Boko Haram insurgents have been degredaded, he said the Army was not unaware of all manners of tricks used by insurgents to obtain means of livelihood for survival and that is the reason behind restrictions on certain products.

While he enjoined the House to make a formal request to that effect, the Army boss said the control of certain products like fertilzer and petrol became inevitable because they are components of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).