President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday held a meeting with Governor Babagana Zulum on the security situation in his state.
Zulum, who spoke on how he escaped the attack on his convoy, however insisted on a “decisive action” to clean the Augean stable.
The President promised to take appropriate action which might involve a complete overhaul of the security apparatchik in Borno State, it was learnt.
According to findings, the President had a no holds barred meeting with Zulum to have firsthand information on the slide in counter-insurgency in the North-East, especially Borno State.
The meeting preceded that of the session the President had with the North-East governors yesterday.
According to sources, the President was shocked by security and intelligence reports on what is going on in the frontline.
One of the sources said: “The governor said all that the people of Borno State wanted is adequate security of lives and property which is waning.
“He said his people were fast losing hope that the Boko Haram insurgency can be won unless urgent action was taken.
“He also explained in details how his convoy was attacked on July 29 and the likely intelligence clues for the ambush. He explained how the state has been cooperating with the military and security agencies. It is likely that Boko Haram was not behind the attack on Zulum.
“The governor said his people are after decisive action in order to remedy the situation and for the troops to go back to their winning days.
“The President promised to take appropriate action which can salvage the situation in Borno State and other states in the North-East.
“Now, it is all about the President mustering the will power to address the challenges at hand. Another source said from the security reports available to the President, there might be a likely overhaul of the counter-insurgency operation in Borno and other parts of the North-East.
The source, who gave insights into the war against Boko Haram in Borno, said: “The real problem is that some top officers and troops have turned Baga into a cash crow by engaging in fish and livestock business. It is from the business that they are getting a lot of money.
“Baga produces 45% of the dry fish being consumed in Nigeria. It also has one of the robust fertile land in the country where tomatoes and vegetables are grown.
“Some of these officers have bought all the livestock in the area.
“Directly opposite the military barracks in Baga is a huge farmland which a top military officer admitted belongs to him.”
The highly-placed source said: “We have taken note of the assurance of the President but this action he promised is not rocket science, the President must stop some of these officers from profiting from the agony of our people.
“From the success achieved by the troops in the past few years, it will not take them more than six months to end Boko Haram insurgency if they are not distracted by fish business.” (The Nation)
