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AHMED MARI, Maiduguri
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has said the state government was not in support of the evacuation and displacement of the people of Minok and Jakana villages of the state over the alleged harbouring of insurgents and ambush on the highway.
Governor Zulum, who made the appeal in Minok on Tuesday, said “the Borno state government is against the evacuation and displacement of the people of Jakanaan Minok to Maiduguri “.
It would be recalled that The Theater Commander and the military authorities have been accusing the people of the villages along Maiduguri- Damaturu road, more especially Minok and Jakana of harbouring Boko Haram and the attacks on the major roads.
“This morning, I was told that the military are evacuating the residence of Minok and Jakana to IDP camps in Maiduguri without informing the state government, NEMA, SEMA, Police and DSS .That was why I am here today. They are supposed to inform the government so that we will prepare for that. I assure you nobody will evacuate you; I have spoken with the Chief of Amy Staff”, the Governor added.
He also said: “Since 2011, this road has never been closed but today, the military are trying evacuating the people of this town, which means closing the roads. This is the only road linking Maiduguri and other parts of the country, where are the millions of people in Maiduguri going to get food? “.
While commending the military and other security agencies, the governor said: “We are appealing to the Federal government and the military authorities not to evacuate them, we are going to support the military to end Boko Haram, they should deploy their men to search the town with a view to identifying and arresting the terrorists”.
He, therefore, appealed to the people of the two villages to cooperate with the military and other security agencies and also called on them to pray for restoration of peace to the state.
A resident of Minok, Ibrahim Bulama said, “We woke up this morning and saw the military gathering and searching us telling us that they are going to pack us to IDP camp in Maiduguri and burn down our villages”.
“We have not harvested our farm produce and now they are trying to evacuate us, leaving behind our produce to Boko Haram to harvest it”, he further said.
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