The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has said he is worried that some Boko Haram leaders serving jail terms “might have escaped” from the correctional centre as a result of the flood disaster that hit the state a few days ago.
He stated this in an interview on the BBC days after the state was ravaged by flood which claimed lives and destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
The flood also destroyed a part of the old prison forcing the authorities to evacuate many inmates to the new maximum security prison in Maiduguri.
Speaking on the BBC, Zulum said, “I’m worried, yes, I’m seriously worried,” when asked if he was worried some Boko Haram terrorists escaped.
He explained that “you also have to bear in mind that the Borno State Government has established what we call the Borno Model of Rehabilitation that has allowed many insurgents to repent.”
Zulum pointed out that “within the last two years, over 200,000 Boko Haram members and their families have repented and, I think, this has also yielded positive results in ensuring return of peace and stability to Borno State.”
He lamented that, “I can remember more than 300,000 people were killed in Borno State, thousands of classrooms were destroyed, hundreds of facilities were destroyed by the insurgency.
“We are just trying to get out of this problem and then now we witnessed another disaster-—a very serious calamity, another serious humanitarian crisis which the state governor cannot shoulder,” he said.
While frowning at the support given to the flood victims which he said was “never enough”, he lamented that, “There is no way we can provide food to millions of people in one or two hours.
“So, what we decided is to retreat and organise ourselves. The only way we can organise ourselves is to ensure that the affected victims are resettled in camps.
“Then we will take the support to the camps, otherwise many will die as a result of receiving food and non-food items in queues,” the governor said.
BORNO FLOODING: ‘Some Boko Haram Leaders Might Have Escaped’ – Gov Zulum is first published on The Whistler Newspaper