Governor Zulum faults Army for Boko Haram attack on his convoy

TRACKING ____The governor’s convoy ran into an ambush in the Baga area of the state on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.

He was on his way to some internally displaced persons (IDP) camps to supervise the distribution of palliatives when the attack forced him back to Monguno.

Although the military repelled the attack, and the governor escaped unhurt, some people in his convoy sustained injuries.

In a filmed confrontation with a military Commanding Officer, the governor said he had been assured there was no Boko Haram presence in Baga before he commenced on his trip.

The governor said, “You have been here for over one year now. There are 1,181 soldiers here.

“If you cannot take over Baga which is less than 5 km from your base, then we should forget about Baga.

“You people said there’s no Boko Haram here, then who attacked us?”

Army spokesperson, Colonel Sagir Musa, described the attack as an isolated incident in a statement released on Thursday, July 30.

He said troops are currently combing the area to track down and deal with the terrorists behind the attack.

Boko Haram’s insurgency in the northeast region kicked off in 2009 with the sect vowing to carve out a caliphate out of Nigeria and at some point controlling dozens of territories which it later lost over the years.

Despite its activities being significantly subdued by the military over the past few years, the group, alongside its influential faction the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), is still terrorising parts of the northeast and surrounding border areas in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

The group has killed over 30,000 people, and displaced over 2.5 million people.