NBA replies Buhari: Borno people not Boko Haram helpers

THE chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Borno State, Mohammed Umoru, has absolved the people of the state of complicity in the worsening Boko Haram attacks and elongation of the war against terrorism in the country.

Umoru, in a statement, in response to a recent allegation by President Muhammadu Buhari that the people of the state were aware of the movements of the insurgents, said it was wrong for the president or anyone to accuse the generality of Borno people of harbouring Boko Haram elements “when it is becoming obvious that the military lacks the capacity” to secure the country.

“Nobody is harbouring any insurgents in Maiduguri or any part of the state. As far as we are concerned in the Bar, if there is any case of a discovered accomplice, such should be prosecuted according to the law.

“The government should give the military the directive to catch anybody found with evidence of harbouring insurgents in the town. After all, we know that these insurgents are few now unlike before when they were many.

“I am using this forum to call on the people of the state to report to the authorities of the state whenever they see any suspicious element. Anyone in authority can take such a report, even the governor, because he is part of the rapid response team he created,” the Borno NBA chairman said.

He called on the Federal Government to review the country’s security architecture with a view to ending insurgency in the North-East.

He expressed shock at the amount of the damage inflicted recently by the insurgents on the people of Auno who, he said, have so far been attacked about six times.