Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on Wednesday, urged communities in the state to embrace the repentant insurgents.
The governor stated this in Maiduguri, the state capital, during the presentation of the state’s N340.6 billion 2024 Appropriation Bill to the state House of Assembly.
Zulum revealed that the recent Niger Republic coup has stalled the repatriation of the over 120,000 Nigerian refugees back home from the neighbouring francophone country.
Since the beginning of the implementation of the Federal Government’s ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ and the Borno State Government’s programme of reintegrating the ex-combatants in their home communities, fears have raged over possible retribution by those whose relations they killed or maimed during the insurgency.
However, Zulum urged that instead of retribution, the communities should live in harmony and support the surrendered insurgents to resettle and reintegrate well at home.
“I want to call on the people of Borno State to support the repentant Boko Haram insurgents,” he said, revealing that over 160,000 insurgents and their families have so far repented.
“We understand your fears, but imagine that these people are left in the bush; they would have been wreaking more havoc than imagined,” Zulum maintained, adding that “managing them in repentance is, therefore, better.”
The governor revealed that he had been able to secure €10 million and €500,000 grants from Germany and Switzerland, among other grants and donations, towards the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons and the reintegration of the repentant insurgents in their ancestral communities.
“I will continue to pursue more grants for the programme,” he said.
Speaking on the repatriation of the Nigerian refugees, Zulum had earlier listed some of the projects his administration planned to execute in the Northern Borno Local Government Areas without mentioning Guzamala LGA, the home LGA of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Abdulkatim Lawan.
“Mr. Speaker, I know you will be surprised that I did not mention your Local Government Area, ” he turned jokingly at the Speaker.
“The coup de tat in the Niger Republic has impeded our plan to repatriate Abadam and Guzamala people (refugees) home from that country,” apparently saying that the refugees have to be repatriated and the IDPs from the two LGAs may have to be returned home before any project is executed.
Finance and Economic Development take the lion’s share of N53.8 billion of the 2024 Budget of Consolidation and Progress, followed by Health, at N51.1 billion; and Education, at N39.4 billion.
Zulum begged for forgiveness from the people of the state he might have offended while discharging his gubernatorial duties and responsibilities in 2023, promising, “I will never lose focus in the discharge of my duties and responsibilities back to prosperity.”
