Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari led government to engage foreign mercenaries like the government of President Goodluck Jonathan did to completely wipe out Boko Haram in the country.
Recall that President Goodluck Jonathan in the wake of the 2015 general election contracted a private army from South African which recorded many successes in the recovery of most of the territories that were taken over by Boko haram both from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
The Federal Government delegation which was led by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, also had in company the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and other some ministers.
Lawan on behalf of the federal government conveyed President Buhari’s sympathy to the people of Borno over mass killing of the villagers, stressing that Jere his administration is committed to end the 11 years old insurgency in the region and other forms of criminality across the country.
Zulum who has never hidden his dissatisfaction on the prolong insurgency which has ravaged his state for more than a decade advised the government to take more serious measures towards bring the crisis to an end.
Zulum in his address made some important recommendations to the federal government which he believes can bring the insurgency to an end.
He said; “One of our recommendations as possible solutions to end the insurgency is the immediate recruitment of our youths into military and paramilitary services to complement the efforts of the Nigerian forces.”
“Our second recommendation is to engage the services of our immediate neighbours, especially the government of Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic, in clearing the remnants of Boko Haram hiding in the shores of the Lake Chad.
“Our third recommendation is for him to engage the services of the mercenaries to clear the entire Sambisa forest.
“Our fourth recommendation is for him to provide the police and the military, with armed resistant armoured personnel carriers and other related equipment.
“We are also soliciting the support of the federal government to support the Borno state repatriation of out displaced persons currently residing in Cameroon and Niger Republic,” Zulum said.
The governor also called for a more coordinated approach in the fight against the insurgent, while calling on the Federal Government to equally increase federal support for residents of Borno State for improved their lives as most of them have been traumatised.
According to him, most of the attacks happening in the state like the Zabarmari incident would have been avoided “if adequate support and infrastructure had been provided for the Northeast and military.”
He observed that the insecurity is grossly fueled by lack of critical infrastructure including lack of good roads in the state and the region at large.