Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has alleged that some politicians and members of the armed forces are acting as informants to Boko Haram insurgents.
Zulum made the allegation on Wednesday during an interview on News Central’s Breakfast Central.
Zulum, however, vowed to strengthen the state’s intelligence network and take decisive action against saboteurs.
“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,” he said.
The governor called for an end to “contractocracy” and urged that insecurity not be politicised.
“Let’s remove contractocracy. In six months, we can put an end to this madness.
“We need not politicise insecurity,” Zulum added.
On the issue of surrendered insurgents, the governor acknowledged that while not all who have surrendered have fully reformed, the majority are now contributing positively to peace efforts.
“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 said.
Zulum emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to tackling insurgency, combining both kinetic (military) and non-kinetic (social, political, economic) strategies.
“Insurgency will never be ended by kinetic measures alone.
“We must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also properly put in place,” he stressed.
“Our ongoing non-kinetic measures have yielded positive results with the support of the Nigerian military.”
The governor conceded that among the over 500,000 repentant insurgents, a small number might return to violence but maintained that the system is largely effective.
“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,” Zulum stated.
He also criticised the military’s lack of adequate equipment, warning that insurgents currently have a technological edge.
“The army doesn’t have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgency,” he said.
Nevertheless, Zulum praised the Nigerian military for supporting peace-building initiatives.
“I want to commend the Nigerian armed forces for the support that they have been rendering to our non-kinetic measures,” he added.
Finally, the governor urged President Bola Tinubu to pay closer attention to ground-level intelligence and military advice.
“The forest guard shall be provided immediately. The President of Nigeria needs to listen to those who can differentiate their left from their right.
“We should not politicise insecurity. The President needs to listen to the people who can tell him the right thing.
“The President should listen to the army,” he said.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
l
