The North-East may soon fall under the
control of Boko Haram unless the Federal
Government adopts more stringent measures
to deal with the insurgency, Deputy Governor
of Borno State, Alhaji Zanna Mustapha, has
warned.
The deputy governor, who gave the warning
on Monday in Government House, Yola, while
speaking with reporters, said the
governments of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe
states had raised the alarm over the future
of their states as a result of rising
occupation of more towns and villages by
the insurgents.
“If the Federal Government does not add
extra effort, in the next two to three months,
the three North-Eastern states will no longer
be in existence”, he said, adding that “The
Federal Government has tried its best but
their best is not enough because rather than
going after the insurgents, it is the
insurgents that are going after us. It is a big
crime that the criminals are better equipped
than the military and they are just few
kilometres from the Adamawa, Borno and
Yobe states capitals”.
Mustapha was in Adamawa to visit
thousands of Borno indigenes that were
forced to flee their state and schools
following Boko Haram attacks in Mubi.
He said the continuous occupation of more
towns by Boko Haram had confirmed a
statement in the past by Governor Kashim
Shettima that the terrorists were better
armed and motivated than Nigeria’s military.
According to the deputy governor, 13 local
governments in Borno, three in Adamawa and
others in Yobe were currently under the firm
grip of Boko Haram. He said, going by
intelligence reports, if the Federal
Government did not step up its security
measures, the fall of the three northeastern
states would only be a matter of days or
weeks.
On the purported ceasefire agreement
between the federal government and
terrorists, Mr. Mustapha said: “We are yet to
believe that there is a ceasefire because the
first day after the announcement was made,
over 30 people were killed in Borno State,
and (the terrorists) continued with their
rampage in Adamawa, Gombe and only this
morning there was a bomb blast in Yobe”.
He added: “Let us appeal to the international
community to come to our rescue otherwise
in the next few months the three states may
not exist”.
The deputy governor accused the insurgents
of committing war crimes, saying they
deployed anti-aircraft missiles in killing
unarmed civilians against international rules
and conventions.
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