The governor who said about 90 percent of the state is secure and safe, gave the assurance after a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday at the presidential villa.
The Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, on Friday assured the residents of the state of their safety during and after the forthcoming general elections.
The governor who said about 90 percent of the state is secure and safe, gave the assurance after a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday at the presidential villa.
Zulum said that the security situation had improved tremendously by over 90 percent, noting that “The people of Borno State voted during the 2015 elections. They also voted during the 2019 elections. Can you compare the security situation in 2019 and 2015 and now? The security situation has improved tremendously by over 90 percent; so we don’t have any problem.
“Eligible voters can go and cast their votes on election day, Inshallah, in Borno State, we don’t have any problem.
“We thank God that there is great improvement in terms of security in Borno State. We are doing very well now, rehabilitation and resettlement is also going very well. We are looking forward to see how we can rehabilitate Maiduguri, Gamboru- Ngala road and then Maiduguri-Banki road with a view to opening up opportunities for the people to earn their means of livelihood.”
The governor explained that the state government was looking into the possibility of rehabilitating the victims of the insurgency, when he was asked what was to be expected in the new year.
“We want to see how we can sustain what we are doing. So far so good in terms of security, the federal government has done well; the military has also done very well. We are now looking into the possibility of rehabilitating the victims of the insurgency; a lot of them have surrendered.
"The Federal government is supporting our mission of rehabilitating. But most importantly, we are yet to complete our resettlement project and very soon we will resettle victims of Gudumbali local government area and also we will resettle all our refugees that are living in Republic of Niger and Chad and Cameroon. Mr. President has given approval to this effect and very soon, we will complete the entire settlement.”
When asked to confirm or deny reports that there were areas in the state where insurgents were still holding sway, he said, “Even in the developed world, we still have some pockets of insecurity. But by and large, we have succeeded a lot. Over 90 percent of our security situation has been improved.”