Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Tuesday berated the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku for trivialising the Boko Haram insurgency that have wreck havoc on the North-eastern part of the country.
Shettima, who spoke at a two-day conference on security and human rights organised by the Centre for Historical Documentation and Research of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said it was unfortunate that Maku has decided to trivialise the insurgency that has led to the huge loss of lives in the region.
He said it was regrettable that those in the position to find solution to the crisis choose to misunderstand Boko Haram, warning that if the insurgents was allowed to overrun the North East, they could seek to extend their tentacles to other parts of the country.
“It has become a thing of concern that the nation’s chief spokesman who once served as a Supervising Minister of Defence has a shallow understanding of the Boko Haram crisis.
“The insurgents have done so much harm to the religion of Islam and have killed thousands of innocent souls in Borno State and destroyed properties worth tens of billions of naira.
“What would make one really disturbed is that Maku was supervising Minister of Defence for some time. No one might even know the extent he might have inflicted his understanding of the Boko Haram insurgency on security chiefs he had to work with.
“Boko Haram crisis is highly misunderstood by many people, some of whom, unfortunately are in position to form part of those that will make decisions to fight it. Let us not forget that Maku is a member of the Federal Executive Council.”
The governor used the platform to dismiss belief in some quarters that the Boko Haram insurgency was aimed at stopping President Jonathan from succeeding in his assignment.
He said, “Of all the attacks by Boko Haram from 2002, their major attacks were in 2009 when Mohammed Yusuf was killed under a northern President, Umaru Musa Yar’adua. The attacks snowballed in 2011 till date. So, what are we talking about?
“I am deeply worried about the understanding of Boko Haram because the solution lies in all of us understanding it and facing it with sincerity.”
Shettima said his administration had spent N10bn as counterpart-funding in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
Follow Us