Insurgency: North East Governors Ask Buhari To Provide More Weapons

State Governors of North-Eastern states have called for the acquisition of more sophisticated weapons to help the police and the Nigerian military in the fight against insurgency in the region.

Making this call at the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and security chiefs on Monday, the governors appealed to Buhari to attend to the security issues rocking the region as they lamented over the rate at which people were being recruited into the insurgent groups.

Speaking to newsmen at the end of the meeting, Borno state governor, Babagana Zulum, said the meeting with the President was a fallout of a meeting of the North-East governors held in Maiduguri on Saturday.

According to him, the governors resolved on Saturday to meet Buhari with a view to highlighting the key challenges in the region, especially the issues of security, decaying infrastructure especially road projects.

He further highlighted cases of oil exploration in the region, and the issues of enhancing river basin development in the region amongst others as part of the reasons for their meeting with Buhari.

“The governors of the region have commended the efforts of the Federal Government in securing the region.

“However, we told the President that there is the need for the Federal Government to address the causes of insurgency, which are not limited to endemic poverty and hunger among others.

“One of the causes is that of access to farmlands. People need to go back to their farmlands; people need to be resettled in their original homes so that they can restart their means of livelihood.

“This is one of the reasons the insurgents are recruiting more into the sect. Therefore, creating an enabling environment for the people to go about their normal duties will no doubt reduce the cases of insurgency.

“We also recommended that police should be empowered, to be provided with a certain state of the art equipment, armored personnel carrier and so on with a view to bridging the manpower gap that we are having in the Nigerian military,” He said.

Allnews had earlier reported that President Buhari was in a meeting with Security Chiefs and Governors of North Eastern states.

Governors present at the meeting in the Presidential Villa includes Zulum, Fintri; Bala Mohammed of Bauchi; Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe; Darius Ishaku of Taraba; and Mai Mala Buni of Yobe.

Also in attendance was the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno  Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, the Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi; and the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammad Dingyadi.