Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State and his Zamfara counterpart, Bello Matawalle, have cried out that terrorists are overrunning their states.
While Zulum said fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) would wreak havoc more than Boko Haram not only in Borno but in other parts of the country if not tackled, Matawalle said bandits were being released without trial by competent courts of law and that over 600,000 people are now IDPs.
The Borno governor spoke when he received the Senate Committee on Army in Maiduguri, while Matawalle made his position known when he received in audience, a federal government delegation led by the minister of defence.
2 Borno LGAs under B/Haram control – Zulum
Governor Zulum during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Army, at the Government House in Maiduguri, on Wednesday, said that Abadam and Guzamala LGAs are under the control of Boko Haram.
According to reports, the two LGAs are in the northern part of Borno State and had been under Boko Haram occupation for years.
The federal government had consistently said no part of Nigeria is under Boko Haram occupation.
Recall that at a time, the Chadian troops had recaptured Abadam and other towns from the assailants and stayed there for months before they left the shores of Nigeria and continued repelling the terrorists along the Chadian land and water-locked areas.
But after they retreated following the deployment of Nigerian troops, it did not take long when ISWAP fighters mobilised again and took over many towns and villages in Abadam and Guzamala, among others.
Since then, the terrorists have been controlling the affairs of the locals who could not leave to safer places or IDP camps.
Locals said they have continued to pay taxes and levies to the invaders to have access to their farms and markets.
Zulum also expressed concern over the growing presence of ISWAP in the southern part of Borno after dislodging fighters loyal to the late Abubakar Shekau.
“I must commend the Nigerian Army for the relative peace in many parts of the state but I want to appeal to the military to take the war against the insurgents and chase them out because ISWAP is currently recruiting fighters in some parts of the state,” he said.
“If nothing is done to check and tackle the growing presence of ISWAP fighters who are better armed, better equipped, more deadly, more sophisticated and receive more funds than Boko Haram, it will be disastrous not only to Borno State but the country in general.
“They (ISWAP) are growing spontaneously and it is not difficult for us to address these problems; we need to pursue ISWAP at this early stage.
“ISWAP fighters are mounting checkpoints between Damboa and Biu; they are collecting taxes from communities because just three days ago, I got security information that they held a party (ceremony) with over 300 machines. Something needs to be done especially in the axis of Askira, Chibok and Damboa.
“Another issue is that two of our local government headquarters are still under the control of Boko Haram terrorists, Malumfatori in Abadam Local Government and Guzamala.
“We want the owners of these two local governments to take over, that is the government of Borno State and the two local governments.
“I have commended the Nigerian Army for the relative peace in many parts of the state and there is nothing wrong if I ask them to wake up from the slumber in addressing the problems of ISWAP,” the governor said.
When contacted last night to get the military’s reaction to Zulum’s comment, the spokesman for the Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu directed one of our correspondents to the Defence Headquarters.
However, efforts to reach the Acting Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Maj.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko proved abortive as calls to his mobile phone were unanswered and a text message sent to him was yet to be replied to as at the time of filing this report.
But a highly-placed source in the military revealed that politicians have started playing politics again by trying to curry favour from the public with their comments and proclamations, urging them to stop playing politics with the lives of innocent Nigerians.
The source maintained that the frontline troops have been well-equipped since the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor took over the mantle of leadership as Defence chief.
“You know they have started politics. This is 2022. Please, don’t listen to anybody, our troops are well-equipped, and their morale is very high,” the military source said.
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