• Accuses soldiers, politicians of being Boko Haram informants
Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has opened a can of worms on the unending Boko Haram war and terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, particularly in Borno and the North East axis, alleging that some influential politicians, members of the armed forces and local communities were acting as informants and collaborators for Boko Haram insurgents.
Speaking during a breakfast show on News Central,he vowed that Borno State would strengthen its intelligence network and deal with saboteurs ruthlessly.
“We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them ruthlessly.
“Let’s remove contractocracy. In six months, we can put an end to this madness. We need not politicise insecurity.”
Speaking during a high-level security meeting in April, Zulum had raised the alarm that the state had suffered a significant setback in its fight against terrorism, noting that the renewed attacks showed that Borno was losing ground to insurgents.
On Monday, May 19 the governor appealed to residents of the state to observe a day of voluntary fasting and prayer. He said the aim of the fasting is to seek “divine intervention” over renewed attacks in the state and across the country. “In light of our current security challenges, I am calling on all residents of Borno State to unite in a collective act of faith and solidarity.”
Speaking during the interview yesterday, he lamented that the military lacked the necessary equipment to subdue the insurgents and urged the federal and state governments to unite in the fight against insecurity. According to him, the Nigerian government needs to prioritise security by investing in drones to combat insurgents even as he campaigned for the fusion of both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
“The Army doesn’t have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgents and I want to also inform you that, right now, the insurgents are using technology to fight the soldiers on ground.
“A few days ago, I had a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff and he said he was looking for 32 drones to end the insurgency and he’s right.
“Each drone is costing about $5.5 million, so why can’t we pull resources together to buy these drones and prioritize insecurity?
“Another issue we should look into is procurement of military equipment, both hardware and software. Let’s deal directly, government to government, so that we can get value for money, otherwise most of the contractors won’t buy the equipment if you give them money.
“If we want to do right, we can put ourselves together and this madness will end within six months.”
Zulum stressed the need for Nigeria to embrace both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies in tackling insurgency, as military action alone would never bring about a total end to insurgency.
“Insurgency will never be ended by kinetic measures alone. We must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also properly put in place.
“What I mean by non-kinetic measures is the social, political, and economic dimensions of the crisis. Our ongoing non-kinetic measures have yielded positive results with the support of the Nigerian military.”
He urged President Bola Tinubu to pay attention to ground-level intelligence and professional advice from the military.
“The forest guard should be provided immediately. The President (Tinubu) needs to listen to those who can differentiate their left from their right.
Federal and state governments must come together so that we prioritize security, we need not to politicize insecurity, the Federal Government needs to listen to us.”
Governor Zulum commended the military’s role in supporting peace-building efforts.
“I want to commend the Nigerian armed forces for the support that they have been rendering to our non-kinetic measures.”
On the issue of repentant insurgents, Zulum stated not all who surrendered have reformed fully. “I cannot completely say that 100% of those people who have surrendered are doing the right thing, but I want to assure you that over 99% are doing well and are not participating in the ongoing terrorism.”
He acknowledged that not all 500,000-plus repentant fighters may stay reformed, but believes the system is largely working.
“Yes, I believe among the 500,000 or more that have repented, I cannot rule out the possibility of fewer of them going back to the bush,” he said.