By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Worried by the growing influence of the dreaded Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Lake Chad region which includes Nigeria, Borno state Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has for the umpteenth time called on the Federal Government to hire mercenaries to flush out the group from the country.
He also revealed that two local government areas of Borno state are still not occupied by human population, pointing out that except efforts are made to repossess them ISWAP may take them over.
Governor Zulum made this clarion call while addressing State House Correspondents on Thursday at the Weekly Special Briefing coordinated by the Presidential Communications Team in Abuja on the developmental efforts and internal security challenges in his domain.
According to him: “In spite of the giant strides my government have recorded in every aspect of human development, insecurity is still a huge challenge. Worst of it is that there are growing numbers of ISWAP in the Lake Chad axis”.
“We should not allow ISWAP to grow in the Lake Chad region because they are more dangerous than Boko Haram. They are coming from Libya and the Sahel region. We must act quickly to stop them in their tracks”.
The Governor also lamented that two Local Government Areas (LGA) are currently not occupied by human population hence the federal government should make efforts to clear the insurgents from the Lake Chad area.
Said he: “I am again suggesting that the federal government should hire mercenaries from foreign countries to flush out the insurgents once and for all. We hire mercenaries from Russia, the United States of America (USA) and other countries to deal decisively with ISWAP in the Lake Chad area”.
“It is my candid opinion that the issue of insurgency will not be solved in Nigeria without external help. Therefore, we should not wait much longer to hire mercenaries to wipe out these insurgents especially ISWAP and Boko Haram.
This is my position”.
Asked if he is on the same page with the federal government which is not favourably disposed to hire mercenaries to defeat insurgents, he said he is convinced that hiring mercenaries is the only way out in the present circumstances.
Said he: “politics is not static, it’s dynamic. Things change depending on the situation on ground”.
Meanwhile, Governor Zulum has advised that the frenzy of the 2023 General Elections should not distract the country from prosecuting the war against insurgency.
He also called for a stronger solidarity amongst security agencies in Nigeria, adding that inter-agency collaboration is needed to defeat insurgents.
On why Borno state closed down the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, he said there are reasons for the action.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the IDP camps were closed because of prostitution and other criminal acts going on in the camps. So, we did not have any other choice than to relocate the IDPs to their ancestral homes”, Governor Zulum explained.
