The Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum has lamented that 10 percent of the population is “unaccounted for” because of Boko Haram insurgency in the state. Zulum raised that alarm Tuesday, after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari over terrorism at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. “Over 100,000 people have been killed in the 12-year Boko Haram insurgency,” he said. The Governor, who said he discussed the report of the surrender of Boko Haram terrorists with the President, noted that: “I did not see any reason why those who surrendered should be rejected in their communities.”
He further disclosed that there are a total of 2,600 surrendered insurgents now in custody of the military. “Not all of them are criminals,” he declared yesterday before the journalists. He said among those that surrendered were innocent people forcefully conscripted to join the Boko Haram sect while some are teenagers. While declaring support for the surrendered terrorists, he said: “The State Government was not contemplating giving the repentant terrorists any dime for them to surrender,” He said that despite the insurgents attacking him 50 times, he however; pledged to support victims of the over a decade insurgency in the state.
