Borno gov gathers 30 ‘prayer warriors’ in Mecca to battle Boko Haram

Following on the heels of the call by the Nigerian Army which also held a conference on seeking spiritual solutions to the menace of insurgency, especially attacks by Boko Haram, the Borno State governor, Professor Umaru Zulum, has also decided to seek ‘spiritual solution’ to the matter.

In fact, the governor is reported to have entered into an arrangement with 30 residents of Makkah in Saudi Arabia who are expected to offer daily Tawaf prayers on a permanent basis for peace to return to the state in particular and the country at large.

Indication to this emerged on Saturday as it was gathered that the 30 persons, including a man who had spent over 40 years, have devoted themselves to spending hours at the Ka’aba everyday for the purpose of worship.

“The 30 persons, all of them with Nigerian origin from Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano and parts of the north-west, have for tens of years devoted themselves to spending hours at the Ka’aba everyday for the purpose of worship.

“An old man among them is said to have remained a Ka’aba devotee in the last 40 years. The Ka’aba is Islam’s holiest area located inside the grand Al-Haram ‎mosque in Makkah”, Malam Isa Gusau, spokesman of the governor, said this in a statement.

‎The governor’s spokesman said the move was aimed to combine different approaches that include sustained support for the Nigerian armed forces, aggressive mass recruitment and equipping of more counter-insurgency volunteers into the Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes as well as socioeconomic approach in enhancing access to education, job opportunities and providing other means of livelihood through social protection initiatives.

Gusau, who was present during Governor Zulum’s brief interaction with the 30 ‘prayer warriors’ on Friday evening around the Ka’aba, said the governor was there to convey his deepest gratitude and to seek continued prayers.

“Rather than sending anyone, I am here to, on behalf of the good people of Borno State, thank you so much for your empathy and the compassion in devotion yourselves to praying for us every day at the Ka’aba which for us as Muslims, is the most sacred place.

“We need these prayers more than ever before. We are handling our problem from different approaches. Prayer is key in everything that we seek. We will continue to seek prayers from many fronts. We will keep supporting our clerics of different faiths in Nigeria for the same prayers and we will seek the same from all of you that are always here around the Holy Ka’aba.

“I basically will beg that you continue to pray for us towards achieving three things: first, for us to regain peace in Borno State, all of the north and Nigeria in general.  We will have to continue that prayer on permanent basis because we need peace that will be sustained.

“Secondly, we need prayers for us to achieve our ambitious plan for Borno State and lastly for Allah to make us remain focused and not to get carried away by power” Zulum was quoted as telling the 30 people.”