State governors from the North-Eastern part of the country have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intensify efforts towards defeating the Boko Haram insurgents, saying that the terrorists are getting stronger on a daily basis.
The governors made the plea on Monday while meeting the President on the deteriorating security situation in the zone.
Speaking with the State House correspondents, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State said the meeting with the President was a fallout of a meeting of the North East governors held in Maiduguri on Saturday.
According to him, the governors resolved on Saturday to meet Mr Buhari with a view to highlighting the key challenges in the region.
Other issues discussed, according to the governor, included security challenges, decaying infrastructure especially road projects, cases of oil exploration in the region, and the issues of enhancing river basin development in the region among others.
Mr Zulum said: “The governors of the region have commended the efforts of the Federal Government in securing the region.
“However, we told the President that there is the need for the Federal Government to address the causes of insurgency, which are not limited to endemic poverty and hunger among others.
“One of the causes is that of access to farmlands. People need to go back to their farmlands; people need to be resettled in their original homes so that they can restart their means of livelihood.
“This is one of the reasons the insurgents are recruiting more into the sect. Therefore, creating an enabling environment for the people to go about their normal duties will no doubt reduce the cases of insurgency.
“We also recommended that police should be empowered, to be provided with a certain state of the art equipment, armored personnel carrier and so on with a view to bridging the manpower gap that we are having in the Nigerian military.”
When also asked to comment on the recent attack on his convoy and the controversy that ensued following his indictment of the military, Mr Zulum said a series of meetings had been held after the attack.
He, however, refused to disclose the agreement reached during the said consultations.
The governor simply said, “We have had a series of consultations after the attack and I think security is not only about the Federal Government.
“There is a need for the federal, state, and local governments to come together with a view to proffering solutions that will end this crisis in the region.
“But most importantly, there is war economy in the region and I think that is why we are here.
“So, I think the government is taking a bold step with a view to ensuring the speedy resolution of some of the grey areas that we have in the region.”
