Following continuous bombardment of terrorists in the north east by Nigerian and multi-national troops, Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has disclosed that the insurgents have been destroyed and are now only in control of two local governments out of the 20 they were controlling earlier.
DAILY POST recalls that the Nigerian military has equally disclosed that it had dislodged Boko Haram fighters from their hideouts within some communities of Borno State following its effort to bring the terrorists to their kneels.
Shettima was speaking while receiving the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir David Lawan, who led a six-man committee inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari to pay condolence visits to Borno and Adamawa states, over the recent suicide attacks at their mosques.
The governor dismissed insinuation that the attacks were acts of authority of the insurgents. He said it was only a strategy by the insurgents to attract attention, having almost lost the battle.
“They are presently controlling two local governments in Borno State; Abadam and Mobbar and partially in Marte,” he disclosed.
The governor insisted that the bombings that were witnessed in recent times were only to show to the world that the terrorists were still around and have no relevance to their prowess.
He said: “At some point, Boko Haram overran 20 out of our 27 local government areas in Borno State. They overran four local government areas in Adamawa and two in Yobe.”
He disclosed that to forestall further attacks in mosques, he had summoned all Imams of mosques in Maiduguri, Jere and surrounding areas as well as district heads, village heads and those manning streets called lawans and Bulamas, for a security meeting which will be led by the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi.
The governor said the meeting scheduled for today would discuss firm measures that might require policy pronouncements required to address the renewed attacks.
The SGF whiled commiserating with the Governor and the people of Borno said, “the president on hearing what befell Adamawa and Borno states and the country yesterday (Friday) decided to set up this team to come and commiserate with you.
“The president is always compassionate and emotional when things like these happen to the people of Borno state, Nigeria is indeed very sad that these things continue to reoccur so often.”
He said, “defeating insurgency on the battle ground is different from defeating it from the urban areas.
“And knowing that their days are numbered it is clear that they have changed their styles and strategies and have now resorted to bomb blast even in religious areas, no one would have expected that one would have woken up to explode himself in a mosque, killing Muslims and maiming innocent worshippers in mosque.”
Lawan said: “The president has said we should highlight that security is everybody’s business, because some of these people live among us and the only way we can eliminate this menace is by being vigilant and observant. We should monitor the activities of people that seem strange and people that look strange and people that are strangers in our midst.”
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