Zulum salutes slain security personnel

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has expressed sadness over the killing of security personnel and civilian JTF members who were ambushed on their way to Baga as security back-up on Friday.

The governor was in Baga from Thursday to Friday to supervise efforts to return residents from IDP camps in Maiduguri and as part of strategies to cut Boko Haram’s long use of the commercial town as the main transit for the major fishing trade and tax administration from which the insurgents fund their murderous activities.

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Baga, Borno’s largest fishing community in the shores of the Lake Chad with waterways to neighboring countries, is considered strategic to Boko Haram’s operations.

Zulum’s spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, in a statement in Maiduguri said two convoys, one belonging to the governor and another for a committee on Baga reconstruction, had safely plied the Maiduguri-Baga route previous days before the third convoy of security men was ambushed on Friday morning even after precautionary steps had been taken to ensure safe trips.

“Governor Babagana Zulum is saddened by this unfortunate carnage. He shares the grief of families of these 11 priceless heroes to whom Borno shall remain grateful. The governor prays for the repose of their souls and urges all stakeholders to remain committed to ongoing peacebuilding efforts.

“Zulum is of the opinion that we must continue to keep hopes alive even in the face of tribulations, and believes that with sustained efforts and prayers, Borno will eventually regain peace.

“The situation facing us is a tough one but we must choose between doing something which gives us some hope and doing nothing which will leave us more vulnerable to Boko Haram’s ultimate wish to takeover Borno and bring it under their sovereign brutal administration,” the statement said.

Governor Zulum while in Baga attended Jumu’ah prayers held for the first time in nearly two years.   He had on August 31, inaugurated a re-settlement committee mandated to start reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Baga.