Ex-CDI suggests governors play a part in increased kidnappings

The immediate past Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Usman on Thursday said his office had intelligence report that Boko Haram were going to kidnap the Dapchi girls.

Usman, one of the retired top military brass appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as ambassador-designates, made the revelation during his screening by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

It would be recalled that over 200 girls from a government school in Dapchi, Yobe State were abducted in February, 2018.

Usman said: “There was an intelligence report on Dapchi before it occurred. We saw indicators building up but it was not managed properly”.

He subtly blamed state governors for circumstances, and infrastructural deficits that aided kidnappers.

Read also: Foreign herdsmen responsible for killings, kidnappings –Akeredolu

“State governors have a role to play because if you are given intelligence, we expect troops to move in but this does not happen in the North-East because of bad roads and difficult terrains.

“There is the need to partner with state governments to deny the bandits the use of forests. We need to manage these forests.

“Unfortunately, these forests are lying fallow. We have partnerships with defence agencies in different countries and it is critical that we build these partnerships to prevent future attacks.”

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