Recruitment Of Children By Boko Haram, ISWAP Must End Now, Gov. Zulum Talks Tough

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has expressed the fear that Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists may continue tormenting the country if proper security steps are not taken to forestall the recruitment of young children into the terror groups.

He spoke when the new Governing Board and Management of the North-East Development Commission paid him a courtesy visit in Maiduguri on Monday.

“Maintaining security in the country entails maintaining security in the North-East. We have to stop children from being recruited into ISWAP and Boko Haram, otherwise, in the next few years Nigeria will be wiped out,” Zulum said.

Zulum lamented that over a million Borno residents displaced by Boko Haram have yet to be resettled and sought the support of the NEDC to return them to normal life.

The governor also called on the NEDC to key into his administration’s Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement programme, which aims to resettle the IDPs and close down IDP camps.

“We want the NEDC to help us ensure the closure of all camps for the IDPs to go and earn their livelihoods themselves so that they don’t join ISWAP Boko Haram,” Zulum added.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, presented to the governor a cheque of N2bn as the commission’s donation to the traders of the just reopened Maiduguri Monday Market to enable them to restart their businesses, following the fire outbreak that ruined the market.

The Chairman of the NEDC board, Maj. Gen. Paul Tarfa (retd.), promised the commission’s support to and fast-track the rebuilding of North-East from the ruins of insurgency.