The governor of Nigeria’s north-eastern state of Borno, regarded as the main battleground against the Jihadist Boko Haram insurgency, Babagana Zulum, has criticised Chad’s UN Humanitarian coordinator, Violet Kakyomya, for saying that the security situation in the North East is worsening instead of declining.
Speaking at the Fourth Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum for Regional Cooperation on Stabilization, Peacebuilding and Sustainable Development, organised by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which commenced in N’Djamena, Chad Republic, Zulum debunked the claims made by Kakyomya by pointing out areas of successes recorded by the governments in the region.
Expressing his displeasure with the claims made by the UN official, the governor told the gathering that the time had passed when people would gather at such a forum to “listen to fake information”, insisting that the security situation in his state had improved by 80%.
He said the state had resettled about 2 million people who had been displaced by the insurgency and “opened up all roads” across the state. The governor also noted that there has been increased access to areas for cultivation for farmers by over 400%.
His displeasure with the UN official’s claims was obvious as he lashed out at her for saying the security situation was getting worse, pointing out that such claims suggested to a global audience that no achievements have been recorded in the fight against insurgency in the Lake Chad region, which he insisted was untrue.
A 2019 report from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) appears to back the governor’s claims of improved security and better integrated communities. The outfit reported that, although confrontations between the military, drawn from affected nations, and the terrorists increased, civilian casualties continued to decrease largely due to the intervention of the military force.
According to the organizers, the event, which runs from July 5 to 7, listed its goals as including the enhancement of “understanding of the emerging security trends in the region and the implications of the ongoing efforts to complete the restoration of state authority”.
