Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara, has said the state is ready to employ lawful means to end the Boko Haram crisis in the state.
Responding to media reports that the governor had employed the services of 1,000 hunters with mystic powers from both North- East and North-West states to combat the insurgents, the governor’s spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, said on Monday that the governor had the support of all in the state to end the Boko Haram crisis.
Gusau said, “I can’t say much on the issue you raised because it is a high level security matter. What I can confirm is, as you know, Borno has for 10 years been faced with a desperate situation and given that, Governor Zulum, with the consent of key stakeholders that include elders and traditional rulers, has decided to aggressively explore every lawful means necessary to put an end to the insurgency.
“The governor has also acquired and deployed close to 200 surveillance vehicles to fight the insurgency and he is doing more. He is combining the coercive means with massive investment in education, job creation and social protection and you have seen all of these happening.
“Zulum is applying mixed methods and he intends to be aggressive. Maybe some Nigerians thought Governor Babagana Zulum was joking when he solicited prayers from a group of Nigerians operating around the Ka’aba which we Muslims take seriously.”
He added, “Governor means serious business. He is not out to joke. Some Nigerians, including Senator Shehu Sani, who haven’t felt the heat of the insurgency may enjoy the luxury of sending out tweets and joke over issues of life and death affecting the people of Borno.
“Those of us who live in Borno have felt and are still feeling the heat. We don’t have the luxury to tweet from comfort zones and make mockery of serious issues affecting lives.”