The Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, and his counterpart for state, Bello Matawalle, accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff and other service chiefs, arrived in Maiduguri on Tuesday to assess the security situation in the Theatre of Control and Command, Operation Hadin Kai, Maiduguri.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, and Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Undiandeye were part of the visit.
The minister and his team were at the Government House in Maiduguri, where he disclosed that the delegation was assigned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to visit the governor and people of Borno State.
“We are also here to hear from the patriotic troops in the state about the progress made and what we need to do more of.
He assures that the visit will help bring the Boko Haram insurgency to an end in no distant time.
“The Governor has advised us on what to do; he has given us a strategy.
Together, the Chief of Defence Staff and the army have agreed on what to do, and there is no delay.
“I want to assure you that President Tinubu is willing to support us all through to see the end of this fight and see that peace returns and normal business resumes.
Also speaking, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State sought the deployment of more military personnel to reach out to the enclaves of Boko Haram insurgents who refused to lay down arms in Borno and the northeast.
Zulum noted that the northeast theatre is critical to the security of the entire nation.
He said the porosity of Nigerian borders to the republics of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon in the northeast needs to be reinforced to prevent the infiltration of ISWAP and the proliferation of small arms and ammunition into the country.
“We still need your support in the area of having more manpower in the state, which is very critical. Yes, we know we have a problem of insurgency in northern Nigeria, north-central Nigeria, and other parts of the north, but insurgency in the northeastern states is very critical to the security of the entire nation because of the porosity of our borders.
“Borno State is sharing borders with the republics of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, so we have to be sure that we don’t have safe heavens in Borno State; otherwise, the proliferation of small arms and ammunition will increase, and the presence of ISWAP will also increase as a result of the porosity of the Sahelian region. The Sahel region is our major problem.
“Therefore, we want you to double your action with a view to clearing the shores of Lake Chad, the Sambisa Game Reserve, and also, last but not least, the Mandara Hills,” he said.
“We are still soliciting the support of the Nigerian military to reach out to the enclave of the insurgents who are not ready to lay down arms.
This is very important because the only way that we will complete the degradation of the insurgents is by continuing military operations,” he said.
He explained that the shores of Lake Chad, which have a total arable land area of about 25,000 square kilometres, are very important to the people of Borno State.
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