Boko Haram: Borno Gov Invites Chad Forces After Attacks On His Convoy |The Source

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno, appears to have given up on the capacity of Nigerian armed forces to defeat the Boko Haram insurgents, after the terrorists, attacked his convoy twice in Baga, a major town in the badly ravaged state, and almost killed him.

The state’s helmsman, bent on ridding his state of the militants has now appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to invite Chadian soldiers to join the battle against the bloodthirsty Islamists.

Recall that Chadian troops launched an offensive against Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest few months ago, capturing a large cache of arms.

Many Chadian soldiers alongside Nigerian soldiers also fought the insurgents early this year before the joint mission was disbanded.

At least 10 soldiers and many policemen were killed in the two ambushes, the third within a year as the governor said he’s poised to resettle thousands of Internally Displaced Persons, IDP that have been displaced from the town since the insurgents lay siege on it.

The frequency of the attacks has forced some Nigerians to warn Governor Zulum to tone down his rhetoric and visit to some flashpoints of the state as the insurgents intensify their attacks.

Zulum, tacitly invited the armed forces of the Idris Deby-led Republic of Chad during a meeting with some state governors who paid him a visit after the attack on his convoy, last week, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, spokesman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, said in a statement.

The governor, who said he will not be deterred from ending insurgency in the state, said President Buhari should invite soldiers from neighbouring Chad so that meaningful success can be recorded in the fight against Boko Haram.

Zulum said “no single army anywhere in the world has ever succeeded in quelling insurgency and requested that the government looked into ways of complementing the efforts of the Nigeria Army with the Chadian soldiers, emphasising it is not to undermine the Nigerian soldiers but to help them in finishing the job within a realistic deadline.

“The situation in our State has become very dire because, everything calls for endurance, commitment and dedication if our people were to be drawn out of the woods.

“Chad Basin used to employ about 10 million people while the Sambisa Grazing Reserve and the Mandara Mountains used to employ about 3 million people but the insurgents have made these places inaccessible to the people.”

Meanwhile, Governor Zulum has promised to reduce his visit to some dangerous parts of the state in order not to make him a target of the insurgents.