Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has urged Nigerians to be cautious in their agitation against police brutality to prevent it from degenerating into an insurgency.
He urged the youth to learn from the genesis of Boko Haram, which he said “started as a result of protest by some youths in Maiduguri against the use of helmet by motorcycle riders.’’
“You have seen the situation now. Over one million people have been displaced and the most affected population are the vulnerable and the youth. Some of those who led the protests have left Borno State. They are either staying in Abuja, Lagos or abroad. We have to be very careful,” he warned.
Zulum spoke with journalists in Abuja yesterday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on the current security situation in his state.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State also submitted a report on the extent of the destruction suffered by the state in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest.
But the governor, unlike his Borno State counterpart, declined to take questions from State House reporters after submitting the report.
While speaking on the recent #EndSARS protest across the country, Zulum condemned police brutality and the killings at Lekki Tollgate.
He also condemned what he called ‘the excesses’ of some of the Nigerian youths “in taking the laws into their hands by destroying some of our infrastructures in an attempt to support the legitimate demands of EndSARS protesters.”
He advised every Nigerian to demand their rights through legitimate means, saying, “otherwise we are not going anywhere. Peace is very important.”
Speaking on how he avoided the #EndSARS protest and the panel constituted thereafter, he said, “Transparency and good governance are very important. Whatever we are doing in Borno State, we are ensuring that the entire public is well involved. Fortunately, the state received palliatives early enough, and within two weeks of receiving them, we distributed to the deserving ones.
“In Borno State, the entire situation did not take such dimension as that of Lagos because we told them to sit down and examine the situation and recall the past when the situation was very bad. Now, there is an emerging peace in the state and we don’t want anybody to disrupt it.
“The youths are with us. We are taking very good care of them. Palliatives are distributed to them as at when due. We are giving them some financial support. I think the best way every Nigerian should seek his/her right is through legitimate means; otherwise, we are not going anywhere. Peace is very important.”
Kinetic measures
The governor said a political solution would be required to completely end Boko Haram insurgency, adding, “Kinetic measures” alone cannot solve the entire problem.’’
He stressed the need for government at all levels to provide job opportunities for the youth and an enabling environment for the poor to get access to their farmlands.
He expressed the commitment of his government to ensuring that people returned to their communities, especially their ancestral homes and get access to farmlands to start a normal life.
“As I said earlier, there is the need for us to address the root causes of the problem. One of the greatest root causes of insurgency is poverty. So, the government at all levels should provide job opportunities for the youth. That is what I have been advocating since I assumed the mantle of leadership as governor of Borno State. Military solution alone will never solve the problem,” he said.
Speaking further on the ongoing resettlement of the displaced people in the state to their ancestral homes, Governor Zulum informed Nigerians that there had been a gradual return of peace to the North-East, particularly Borno.
“Government has started the resettlement of people to their ancestral homes. We have received tremendous support from the Nigerian military, the paramilitary, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and its agencies, especially the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), North-East Development Commission and others.
“The gradually return of people to their respective localities is a symbol of peace. So far so good, we are doing well. We need continuous support from the Nigerian military. We need sustainable support to ensure that this madness is brought to an end,” he said.
He said government had engaged the military, with a view to determining the situation at various locations provided for resettlement.
He said the military had replied that the exercise could be continued.
Lekki Tollgate
Meanwhile, the panel of inquiry set up by the Lagos State Government has adjourned the viewing of the video footage captured by the surveillance camera at Lekki tollgate footage to November 10.
Also, Mr Adeshina Ademola Ogunlana had made an appearance as counsel to the EndSARS protesters.
His appearance suffered objection from the counsel to the Lagos State Government, Abiodun Owonikoko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who said a counsel could only represent an entity known by law.
Also, the counsel to the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), Rotimi Seriki, described the EndSARS protesters as a leaderless organisation and not known to the Nigerian law.
Ogunlana, however, said no counsel had the right to declare his clients as leaderless.
He said, “We are here because of the EndSARS protesters. It is a fact-finding panel. The protesters have faces, they have solid evidence. They are not ghosts,” he said while he presented three women among the protesters to the panel.
The trio is Victoria Oniru, Dabira Ayuku and Perpetual Kamsiyochukwu.
Having presented the trio before the panel, both Seriki and Owonikoko withdrew their objections.
The Amnesty International and other campaigners said at least 12 people were killed by soldiers and police in two locations in Lagos after the Lekki shooting. But the Nigerian army dismissed the reports as “fake news.”
Videos posted on the social media footage showed men in military camouflage shooting at protesters.
Daily Trust
