The Governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima, has disclosed that he warned the Federal Government earlier about the Boko Haram sect three years ago, but he was ignored. Shettima, who stated this during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amampour, noted that political difference between the Borno State Government controlled by the All Progressives Congress and the Federal Government led by the Peoples Democratic Party, had affected response to the insurgency.
According to him,
“The sad element in all of this is that three years ago, I was telling everyone that it (Boko Haram insurgency) is a minor problem but if it is not handled with tact and care it was capable of metastasizing into a conflagration that might consume the whole North. But the Federal Government was deaf, dumb and blind to the ground reality,” Shettima said.
Asked if the Federal Government should negotiate with Boko Haram or accept its prisoners swap offer, the governor said there was need to do anything possible to get the girls back.
He said, “We need to get the girls back and we don’t have the luxury of time in our hands. If they are our daughters, this issue of negotiating or not negotiating with terrorists will be out of the question. If it means talking to the devil, if the devil can come down, we should get them back.”
No comments:
Post a Comment