GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno State has accused some military officers and politicians of being informants and collaborators for Boko Haram terrorists.
Speaking in an interview on News Central’s Breakfast Central, Zulum vowed to deal ruthlessly with saboteurs frustrating the efforts of his administration in tackling insurgency in the state.
The governor also said his administration would strengthen its intelligence network to overcome terrorists and their saboteurs.
He said: “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.
“Insurgency will never end with kinetic measures alone, we must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also put in place. What I mean by non-kinetic measures are socio-political and economic dimensions of the crisis.
“Let me tell you one very important thing, insurgency will never be ended by corrective measures alone. Among the 300,000 or more that have repented, I cannot rule out the possibility of a few of them going back to the bush.”
While criticizing the lack of equipment for the military, he accused insurgents of having a superior technological advantage.
“The army doesn’t have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgency,” he said.
The governor, however, commended the Nigerian 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,” Zulum said.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to pay attention to ground-level intelligence and professional advice from the military.
“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 stated.