GOVERNOR Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has reacted to a news report which suggested that Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, dismissed the recent concerns he raised regarding the security situation in the state.
Zulum had said Boko Haram has renewed its attacks and kidnappings in the state with little pushback from security forces, suggesting that authorities in the region are losing ground to the insurgents.
Zulum stated this during a meeting with security forces in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday.
This newspaper reports that Boko Haram militants and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have mainly operated in the northeast of Nigeria, attacking security forces and civilians, and killing and displacing tens of thousands of people.
However, the Minister was said to have dismissed the governor in a publication (not this newspaper).
In a statement signed by Rabiu Ibrahim, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister, Idris noted that this is categorically false and a gross distortion of the Minister’s remarks.
“At no time did the Minister say, ‘Ignore Zulum, Boko Haram is not taking over Borno.’ Such a headline is not only sensational but deliberately crafted as a deliberate act of misinformation to stoke public misunderstanding and distract from the serious work the Federal Government is doing to address security challenges,” the statement said.
But despite that refuttal, Zulum in an interview with journalists on Saturday, states that the information minister, Mohammed Idris is naïve of what is happening in the country.
He reiterated his administration’s commitment to tackle the resurgence of Boko Haram in the state.
He said: “I don’t want to join issues with the Minister of Information. I believe he is naive of what is happening in the country, he doesn’t know what is ongoing in the country. Our discussions during the Security Council meeting were not bad.
“We just raised an alarm that there is resurgence of Boko Haram activities in Borno State, and there is a need for Borno state government, the military as well as paramilitary, to work together in order to avert the looming situation. I think this is very good advice. Nothing has been said again.
“But most importantly, I want to assure you that we have been to Abuja. We met the service chief, especially the CDS, Chief of Army Staff, Naval Staff, as well as Air staff.
“We received assurances from them that they will do everything possible to control the situation, and we are so happy with the response that we had from the service chiefs and the government of Borno state will continue to partner with the Nigerian military and the federal government of Nigeria with a view to reducing the menace of the insurgency.
“And I want to assure the people of Bono that Inshallah, under my watch Boko Haram will not have the capacity to do what they did before. We shall do everything possible to curtail them. The Government of Borno State will provide more support to the Nigerian army.
“We shall strengthen the resilience of our civilian GTF, hunters and vigilante and most especially, I will live up to the expectations of the people of God by completely addressing the problem of insecurity.
“I believe, when we took over from 2019 to date, there is a very serious gap. What has been happening these days will not be allowed to remain unchanged.”