Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum has revealed that so far, 30,000 terrorists have surrendered to the military while asserting that the war against terror would soon be over.
Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday, Zulum expressed hopes that the menace of Boko Haram will end before the end of his tenure.
The governor said this would become a reality with the support of the federal government.
When asked whether this would happen in his administration, he said: ‘Insha Allah. Even now in Borno State, we’re doing very well, extremely well.’
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When further asked if what he meant was that the menace would end before 2023, he said: ‘Insha Allah. You know what I mean by Insha Allah, God willing.’
The governor, who said that he visited the State House to brief the President on the ongoing massive defection of Boko Haram members and efforts being on the plight of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), expressed happiness over the gradual return of peace in Borno State.
‘This time around, we have also started witnessing defection of ISWAP members. This is a welcome development. Under closed-door session, we discussed a lot of issues on how the government of Borno State, as well as the federal government, will manage the ongoing surrender by the insurgents,’ he added.
On whether the number of those that had surrendered involved a huge number of ISWAP members, he said: ‘As at now, we have received nothing less than 30,000 from beginning to date from both Boko Haram and ISWAP. ISWAP, we have started receiving them in few numbers, but Boko Haram, we have started receiving them in huge numbers.’
While commenting on the significance of the development, Zulum stated that just as he has been saying before, the kinetic measures alone will never end the insurgency, the social and political dimension of this crisis is also very important.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK