Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State has appealed to the Federal Government to intensify the mop-up operation against Boko Haram remnants in the North-East to save lives and property.
Gaidam made the appeal in Damaturu on Thursday while declaring open a two-day National Sensitisation Workshop on the Implementation of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
“I wish to make a passionate appeal to the Federal Government through the Office of the National Security Adviser to intensify the mopping up of the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East in conjunction with the vigilance groups,’’ he said.
The governor said the State Government had spent N11.5 billion between 2011 and 2015 in the fight against insurgency.
He said the state Government had also spent about N10 billion as Ration Cash Allowances (RCA) for security operatives and vigilance groups.
“Our administration also procured for the security agencies and vigilance groups over 200 vehicles at about N1.5 billion,’’ he said.
Gaidam commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his unrelenting fight against insurgency and other forms of crime in Nigeria.
He described the workshop as most timely, saying,“it will avail us with the opportunity to work together collectively toward eliminating the menace of men of the underworld and other miscreants’’.
The governor urged the Police Command in the state to organise an orientation programme for vigilance groups on rudiments of arrest and handling of suspected criminals.
The National Security Adviser, retired Maj. Gen. Babagana Munguno, in a message, said that a five pillar programme had been designed to check terrorism.
This, he said, included discouraging people from becoming or supporting terrorism and, to strengthen protection capacity against attacks.
Munguno, who was represented by Alhassan Hussaini, a director in the office of the NSA, said the programme also sought to identify early warnings, mitigate the impact of terrorists’ attacks and framework for governmental efforts.
He emphasised the need to share information among relevant government organs as terrorists continued to be dynamic in tactics and ever evolving means to carry out devastating attacks.
NAN