SAN FRANCISCO, July 31, (THEWILL) – In order to track down the fleeing members of the Boko Haram sect who have fled Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to the outskirts of the state, the State Government on Wednesday requested for the deployment of more troops to the state.
The request was made on a day the State Government inaugurated a 12-man committee to oversee the training of its youths on behavioural change, empowerment and employment.
The State deputy governor, Alhaji Zanna Umar Mustapha, who made the request while receiving the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 12, Mr. Edgar Tam Nanakumo, in his office, said Bama and two other Local Government Areas in the state are still infested with members of the sect.
Mustapha asked the AIG to deploy more policemen to the state to flush out the remnants of the Boko Haram sect in three Local Government Areas of the state where the insurgents are currently terrorising the people.
Assuring that the government would collaborate with the police to ensure that peace fully returns to the state, the deputy governor said lack of perimeter fencing had made many police stations and formations in the state susceptible to Boko Haram attacks.
He noted that the police might have recorded less casualties during attacks on them if their barracks were fenced ..
According to the deputy governor, “Most of the police stations in the state and country generally are not secured and this made it possible for the hoodlums to penetrate and wreck havoc.
“It is sad and regrettable that we’ve lost quite a number of policemen in the state and other parts of the country. The Federal Government should do something about it.”
He advised that the welfare of police men and women should be given more attention even as he called for more training for the conventional police personnel whom, he said, often disappear from scenes of Boko Haram atacks when confronted by the superior fire power of the insurgents unlike the mobile force and anti/counter terrorism squad.
“We have seen policemen in other countries; well-equipped and being properly taken care of. That is why they do their work with passion because their welfare is guaranteed. It is when we take care of our policemen and women that they can in turn protect us and police our communities well,” he added.
Noting that Borno was a home of peace until few years ago when the Boko Haram insurgents began their offensive, he assured that peace will eventually return, saying the efforts of the volunteer youth groups were already paying off as no Boko Haram can now operate freely in Maiduguri due to the resistance from the residents.
In his speech earlier, the AIG said he was in the state to familiarise with the area, government, people and personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.
He stressed further that he was also using the visit to condole with the government and families of the policemen who were killed in Bama and other attacks by the Boko Haram.
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