The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum has stressed the need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to check the lack of zeal and commitment among the Nigerian Army to battle Boko Haram insurgents.
Governor Zulum who said this on Saturday while speaking with newsmen on his experience during his trip to Baga, the fishing town in Borno, said he was saddened with what he saw and experienced.
According to him, there are about 1,200 soldiers stationed at mile 4, which is only about 4km to Baga town, but they could not liberate the town which once had over 10 million people who are farming on the shores of the Lake Chad in the past.
He said; “We were there and you saw what happened. The soldiers were shooting and we all have to make a turn. This is not acceptable. But we can neither blame the President or the Army Chief on this.
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“Authorities must begin to look into what is happening on the ground with our soldiers in the frontlines and take a decisive step to ensure these soldiers enter and clear Baga town.
“If this is not going to happen, our people need to wake up and do the needful even if it takes us recruiting two to three thousands of hunters and join them with our police force to launch attacks on those criminals and clear Baga town to restore peace and confidence in that part of the state.
“I cannot explain why these have to linger with 1,200 soldiers in Baga, 1,007 soldiers in Cross aside officers, 450 soldiers at mile 4 and 1,900 soldiers in Monguno.
“They told us there are no soldiers, but there are soldiers in all these places with the number to safely prosecute the campaign to liberate this area. The issue is not about fighting men or equipment, the authorities need to come down to look into what is informing this lack of zeal to fight among our soldiers,” Zulum concluded.
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