Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, says the Boko Haram crisis started through protests.
Speaking with state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, Zulum asked #EndSARS protesters to be careful in order not to allow those with ulterior motive hijack the protest.
Youth protesting against police brutality had demonstrated in different parts of the country for two weeks before they were forcefully dispersed.
Shortly after the protesters were dispersed, suspected hoodlums attacked private and government-owned property across the country.
The government later said the losses suffered during the crisis are worth billions of naira.
Zulum said the painful part is that some of the persons who instigated the crisis in the state left when the situation went out of hand.
“On the issue of ENDSARS, I am calling on all Nigerians especially the youths to be very careful. The whole Boko Haram saga started as a result of the protest by some youths in Maiduguri against the use of helmet by motorcycle riders, you have seen the situation now,” he said.
“Over one million people have been displaced and the most affected population are the vulnerable, the youths. Some of those that led the protests have left Borno state, they are either staying in Abuja or Lagos or abroad. we have to be very careful.”
He added that the #EndSARS protest did not degenerate into crisis in Borno because of how the government handled it.
“So in Borno State, the entire situation did not take such dimension as that of Lagos because we told them to sit down and examine the situation and recall the past when the situation was so bad,” he said.
“Now, there is emerging peace in Borno State and we don’t want anybody to disrupt the peace. The youths are with us, we are taking very good care of them, palliatives we are distributed to them as at when due, we are giving them some certain financial support and I think the best way every Nigerian should seek for his/her right is through legitimate means, otherwise we are not going anywhere. Peace is very important.”