Nearly 500 people were killed in the three affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in the past few years, heightening fears that the insurgency is worsening rather than subsiding.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to Governor Kashim Shettima in Maiduguri, the governors who sympathized with the government and people of the affected states over recent happenings said besides the federal government, leaders in the North-east must come up with a plan to end the insurgency.
Dankwambo said: “I want to put it on record that as governor of Borno State, you have done your best. You and your cabinet have done your best and we are behind you. We support you and we will continue to align with you to fashion out ways we think these problems would be resolved.”
“No amount of force, no amount of torment can change somebody’s idea or ideology. We believe that dialogue and discussion can resolve a lot of issues. We still believe the best way out of all these problems is dialogue and discussions and all of us will come out one day very strong. Anytime you are hit, we are also hit and as you are receiving sympathizers, we are also receiving sympathizers in our places but we have all resolved to come out clearly and in very strong terms to say that enough is enough”. Dankwambo said the Boko Haram insurgency should not be seen as something beyond redemption.
“Countries have come out of war damaged but today they are strong. Nations have fought wars, they have been destroyed and they were hopeless. If we are committed, we will come out stronger; we will come out great”, he said.
Governor Yuguda said safeguarding lives is the primary role of government.
“Anytime a human life is taken, we don’t go to sleep, none of us goes to sleep because we know that there is a covenant between us and our creator. We are really concerned about what is going on because we don’t know the real reason behind this insurgency but we are appealing to those that are involved in these activities to please, in the name of the Almighty Allah stop this. Enough blood has been spilt, human blood, of the young, the old, the middle aged. They should in the name of Allah call it off. Let us sit down and talk, we are ready to listen to their problems because it could have been triggered as a result of certain things in their minds. We, the leaders want to know so that our people can remain protected. We are ready to solve their problems. And they should also appreciate that if there is no peace and security, we would never develop”, he said. Yuguda also urged the people in the affected states to see the current happening as destiny.
On his part, Garba Umar said, “Mine is to offer prayers for the deceased and may God continue to guide Borno State so that things like this would stop. We pray that in the next couple of weeks, things like the Boko Haram insurgency will seize. Responding, Shettima said the visit of the three governors was timely.
“We are touched and inspired to have you here at this traumatic moment of our history. By your visit, you have proven further that indeed Borno is not alone in this sorrow. We have parents, brothers and sisters in Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba States who feel and share our pains and as always stand with us. A man knows his friends at a moment of merriment and knows his family in moments of grief. In the end, it is not the words of our enemies that we would remember but the silence of our friends”, he said. Before their departure, the visiting governors visited the scene of last Saturday’s twin blasts at Gomari which killed over 50 people. Governors Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State and Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State have also visited the state.
Source: Daily Trust
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