The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin El-Kanem
has said the state is ‘no longer safe;’ as the Chief Security Officer,
Prof. Babagana Zulum has been attacked.
The Governor was attacked along with policemen by Boko Haram
terrorists last Thursday, while travelling in a convoy to Baga town
assess security situation in the Lake Chad Basin.
The Governor’s convoy was also attacked early this year, while
returning from Konduga, 40 kilometres East of Maiduguri; to distribute
food items to returning displaced persons and inspection of ongoing
500 unit housing project.
Abubakar made the declaration; ‘Borno state is no longer safe’ at the
weekend, while paying the traditional Sallah greetings to the Governor
at his Maiduguri official residence.
“Your Excellency, we are not happy about what has happened in Baga the
other time. It is very unfortunate and a great pity to expose people’s
lives to Boko Haram terrorists,” he decried.
While lamenting on incessant attacks, he said: “If the convoy of the
whole Chief Security Officer of the state will be attacked, then I
swear that nobody is safe, because he is the number one citizen of the
state and Chief Security Officer of the Borno.”
He therefore; warned: “If a convoy of such highly placed person in the
State will be attacked, I repeat, nobody is safe,” fearing that the
security situation is getting worse, since the 2009 Boko Haram
terrorism in the state.
Despite the attacks, he urged everyone to look and raise hands up to
God and seek for his intervention to protect lives and property.
He also spoke on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; that has already
claimed over a dozen lives and spread to Maiduguri Metropolitan
Council (MMC) and four Councils of Biu, Jere, Dikwa and Gwoza, border
community with Cameroon.
He called on the citizens to continue adhere to preventive protocols
of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other health
experts.
Speaking on tree felling and environmental degradation, he lamented on
the massive cutting down of trees for firewood and timber in the
state.
He noted that the unchecked continuous activities of tree felling;
have fueled desertification of over a dozen Local Government Areas in
northern part of state.
According to him, the State Government should take urgent steps in
mitigating the dangerous acts of firewood and timber merchants.
He warned that failure to act, could lead to serious environmental
degradation, with desertification that encroaches southwards at 600
metres per annum.
“I urged the Governor for the reintroduction of tree planting
campaigns; which were a regular practice in the past,” he said.
Zulum thanked the Shehu for the visit and assured him of government’s
readiness to address the issues raised by him.
