Borno Assembly Speaker claims Boko Haram, ISWAP in control of his LGA

The Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkareem Lawan, has raised an alarm over the occupation of his council, Guzamala local government area, by Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists.

Lawan, who raised the alarm on Friday at the official flag-off ceremony for the distribution of Phase IV Scholarships to 446 indigenous students of council, said the continued occupation of the area by the insurgents has “suspended all human existence including the military from the area.”

“The entire Guzamala local government area where I hail from is still under the control of Boko Haram/ISWAP sect as there is no presence of troops or civilians since they were displaced by insurgents about six years ago.

“As I speak, Kukawa, which is the Council Headquarters of kukawa LGA, only has the presence of troops of the Nigerian army without a civilian population.

“There is no single existence of civil authority in Guzamala, not to even talk of military presence in the Council Headquarter and its surrounding communities.

“Our people, including our district heads, stakeholders who are here with us, are still taking refuge in camps and host communities located in Nganzai, Monguno and other neighbouring local government areas including Maiduguri metropolis for the last six years.

Read also: No plan to impeach Gov Zulum – Borno Assembly

“Our people are desperate to go back home, it is unfortunate that this is not the first time I have been agitating for military presence in Guzamala and surrounding communities to enable my displaced people take the advantage of Governor Babagana Zulum’s move in reconstruction and resettlement, but to no avail. I insist that Guzamala is still a no-go area,” Lawan said at the event.

He further appealed to the Federal Government and military authorities to take advantage of the “Operation Desert Sanity” recently launched by the Joint Task Force of the Operation Hadin Kai to clear all Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists from the fringes of Lake Chad.

The move, he said, will help restore locals back to their communities for them to return to their normal lives.

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