Northern Governors Forum Con­demns Attack on Borno Gov, Babagana Zulum

The Northern Gover­nors Forum has con­demned Wednesday’s attack on the convoy of Gov. Babagana Zulum of Bor­no, describing the act as callous and reprehensible.

The Chairman of the fo­rum and governor of Plateau, Simon Lalong, made the con­demnation in a statement by his Director of Press and Pub­lic Affairs, Dr Makut Macham.

He said the attack on the governor’s convoy on his way to Baga in Kukawa Local Gov­ernment Area of the state was an act to frustrate his efforts in ensuring the well-being of the vulnerable in the state.

The governor expressed concern that Zulum was at­tacked while on the way to dis­tribute palliatives to Internally Displaced Persons for the Sal­lah celebration.

Also, the Minority Caucus of the House of Representa­tives has expressed concern over the attack on Governor Zulum by Boko Haram in­surgents, saying that the sad incident has again reinforced the urgent need to review the nation’s security architecture.

Ndudi Elumelu, Minority Leader of the House of Rep­resentatives, in a statement on Friday urged the presidency to implement the recent res­olution of both chambers of the National Assembly ask­ing President Muhammadu Buhari to sack his Service Chiefs.

Lalong said the incident was a desperate attempt by crimi­nal elements to sabotage Zu­lum’s efforts toward reducing the sufferings of IDPs who had been traumatised by terrorists.

“This regrettable attack shows the desperation by en­emies of peace and humanity at large to jeopardise all efforts towards making life easier for victims of violence in the state over the years.

“The Northern Governors Forum strongly condemns this attack and stands with Gov. Zulum who has demonstrated courage in personally reaching out to people in need despite the dangers.

“We urge him not to be deterred as he keeps working with security agencies to pro­tect the lives and property of the people,” he said.

Elumelu, in the statement also noted that the attack on the state governor and other dastardly activities of the in­surgents in various parts of the nation have further reinforced the urgent need to inject new hands with fresh ideas to han­dle the nation’s security archi­tecture

Elumelu said: “the worsen­ing security situation in the country under the current Service Chiefs has reached an unbearable state to the extent that insurgents have the temer­ity to attack an armed convoy of a state governor.

“This is more so with the in­sistence by Governor Zulum of compromising of security system in the area, allegedly creating opening to the attack; a position that validates the call for immediate reorganising of the nation’s security architec­ture.

“The entire nation is dis­tressed by the incessant mind­less killing of our citizens and pillaging of defenseless com­munities by insurgents, ban­dits and kidnappers, which have brought indescribable agony, anguish and torment to innocent Nigerians.

“We the opposition lawmak­ers hereby in the strongest terms restates the call to Pres­ident Muhammadu Buhari to honor the resolution of the National Assembly and im­mediately remove the Service Chiefs and bring in new hands to effectively confront the secu­rity challenges confronting our nation.”