Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has expressed fear that Boko Haram and ISWAP terror may continue tormenting the country if proper security steps are not taken to forestall the recruitment of young children into the terror groups.
He was speaking when the new Governing Board and Management of the North-East Commission paid him a courtesy call in Maiduguri, on Monday,
“Maintaining security in the country entails maintaining security in the North-East,” Zulum said.
He added that the young ones must be stopped from being recruited into Boko Haram and ISWAP to forestall the persistent torment, adding that, “otherwise the country may be wiped out in the next few years.”
The governor recalled that in 2012 there were over 3.5 million IDPs in Maiduguri Camps, but even with the closure of official camps, there are still over one million IDPs in unofficial camps.
He called on the NEDC to key into the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement programme of the state government for the IDPs to ensure all camps are closed.
“We want the NEDC to help us ensure the closure of all camps for the IDPs to go and earn their livelihoods themselves so that they don’t join ISWAP Boko Haram,” he said.
Zulum, who is the Chairman of the North-East Governors Forum informed the visiting Board and Management of the Forum’s resolution on medium and long-term solutions for the North-East challenges in the areas of roads construction, educational rehabilitation, renewable energy and investment in commercial agriculture.
He urged the Commission to key into the Renewed Hope of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to facilitate and fast-track the rehabilitation of the country from it’s challenges.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the Commission, Mohammed Alkali, had presented to the governor a cheque of N2 billion as the Commission’s donation to the traders of the just reopened Monday to enable them restart their businesses.
The Chairman of the NEDC Board, Maj. Gen. Paul Tarfa, had assured that the Commission would do more than it had done to facilitate and fast-track the rebuilding of North-East from the ruins of insurgency.
