Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima has lamented that members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect are better armed and motivated by their sponsors than Nigerian security men.
Speaking with State House Correspondents at the end of a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on the latest set of Boko Haram attacks on the north-eastern zone of the country, Shettima urged political leaders to take responsibility for the needless loss of lives.
“What we are being confronted with is that we are in a state of war”, Shettima said.
“It is what I came to update Mr. President on. The sooner we stopped playing the ostrich and rose to the challenges of the day, and marshal all resources towards neutralising the antics of Boko Haram, the better for all of us”.
Shettima emphasised the need for more resources and more boot on ground, observing that in all fairness, officers and men of the Nigerian Army and Police are giving their all, considering the prevailing circumstances.
“But honestly, Boko Haram is better armed and better motivated than our own troops. And believe me, I am an eternal optimist, as I have always said but I am also a realist. Given the present state of affairs, it is absolutely impossible for us to defeat Boko Haram”.
Shettima had no response to threats by the sect to invade Cameroon should the neighbouring country provide any form of support to the Federal Government.
“I am not privy to such information but the president has assured us that he will put in his best to see that the unfortunate tendency of the Boko Haram overrunning communities and butchering innocent souls is brought under control”, he said.
Boko Haram: Northern Governors Lament Spate 0f Attacks
As the death toll of the latest attack by the Boko Haram sect on Izghe, a community in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria hit 121 on Monday, the Northern Governor’s Forum (NGF) lamented that the current rate of attacks and the ferocity of the attacks have gone beyond the ordinary.
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger, who is also the chairman of the Forum, made this point while discussing the agenda of a one-day general meeting the governors held in Kaduna.
According to Aliyu, the attacks have gone beyond the normal pattern of the sect, and there is now the need to really appreciate the gravity of the situation.
“But it appears that we are becoming a little callous that we don’t seem to care much about what is happening. We must continue to encourage the Federal Government to really do what it is supposed to do”, Aliyu said.
“And we must take a position so that, if it is lack of political will on our part, we must create that political will so that from our own political will, it transcends to the federal government and to the people of Nigeria”.
He said, among other discussions, the forum would come up with ways to coordinate and regulate the operation of cattle dealers, cattle traders and abattoir operation as well as agriculture and the activities of nomadic herdsmen, the NNDC’s five year development plans, its investment in oil and gas, and the transformation of the Almajiri system of education.
District Head of Izge, Mallam Bulama Apagu and Madagali Council Chairman, Mr. Maina Ularamu had earlier given the death toll as 121, from an initial 100, saying the new number is a result of the discovery of more bodies in some of the destroyed houses, bushes and farmlands.
The sect members attacked the community on Saturday, killing many while they escaped and also burning down their houses.