Governors from the North East led by Babagana Zulum of Borno State have told President Buhari that Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in the region are recruiting new members massively.
The views of the governors were made known during a meeting between President Buhari, the Governors as well as the Service Chiefs on Monday.
They told the president that one of the ways out of Insecurity in the North East was to provide proper equipment and funding to police officers in the region to balance the manpower deficit by the military.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Governors Zulum and Ahmadu Fintiri of Borno and Adamawa States said the meeting with the President was a fallout of the meeting of North Eastern Governors on Saturday.
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Zulum said the Governors had resolved to meet with the President to highlight the security challenges in the region including decaying road infrastructure, exploration of oil in the region, and enhancement of the river basin development authority.
Zulum said further,
“The governors of the region have commended the efforts of the Federal Government in securing the region.
“However, we told the President that there is the need for the Federal Government to address the causes of insurgency, which are not limited to endemic poverty and hunger among others.
One of the causes is that of access to farmlands. People need to go back to their farmlands; people need to be resettled in their original homes so that they can restart their means of livelihood.
This is one of the reasons the insurgents are recruiting more into the sect. Therefore, creating an enabling environment for the people to go about their normal duties will no doubt reduce the cases of insurgency.
“We also recommended that police should be empowered, to be provided with a certain state of the art equipment, armored personnel carrier and so on with a view to bridging the manpower gap that we are having in the Nigerian military.”
Speaking about the attack on his convoy, Zulum said a series of meetings have been held between him and the military.
We have had a series of consultations after the attack and I think security is not only about the Federal Government.
There is a need for the federal, state, and local governments to come together with a view to proffering solutions that will end this crisis in the region.
But most importantly, there is war economy in the region and I think that is why we are here.
“So, I think the government is taking a bold step with a view to ensuring the speedy resolution of some of the grey areas that we have in the region.”
President Buhari’s meeting with the North East Governors also had vice President Yemi Osinbajo in attendance, including the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
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