The governor of Borno state, professor Babagana Zulum, has urged the military to establish a base in the Sambisa Forest, around the lake Chad basin and Mandara mountains. The governor stated this when members of the federal house of representatives committee on the army visited him at the Borno state government house in Maiduguri.
The governor also urged the army to provide security support and grant access to farmers to engage in their agricultural activities stressing that it is the only source of livelihood and business opportunities for the communities.
He said “On the issue of completely ending it (insurgency), there’s a need for government to establish a military base in Sambisa, shores of Lake Chad, and Mandara Hills.”
Professor Zulum explained that ending insurgency in the northeast means an end to insecurity in the country.
He urged the National Assembly to ensure adequate appropriations for weapons to tackle insecurity.
Zulum also decried the porous borders in Borno and the need to secure the state bordering three countries, to contain movement of small arms fueling insecurity in the north.
He reiterated his commitment to support the military in its kinetic and non-kinetic approach to tackling insurgency, adding that so far about 190,000 repentant Boko Haram members surrendered to the authorities.
According to Zulum, managing the huge number of repentant Boko Haram members is another crisis that needs stakeholders’ support.
He said the government had resettled two million out of the over three million displaced persons in the state and stressed the need for total peace to enable the displaced persons to return to their ancestral homes.
