“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. I will inform the Chief of Army Staff to redeploy the men to other places that they can be useful,” Zulum said.
These were the words of the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum as he lambasted the army over an attack on his convoy in Baga, a town in Kukawa local government.
Governor Zulum had departed Maiduguri, the state capital on Monday afternoon for the northern part of the state in continuation of the food distribution programme which he started since earlier in July and was scheduled to visit Baga, a fishing town on the shores of the Lake Chad region which has been under the control of insurgents for many years until the military declared its free saying there is no Nigerian territory is under the control of Boko Haram.
The governor’s entourage were attacked, a few kilometres to Baga when Boko Haram opened fire on the Governor and his entourage and were forced to retreat as security operatives on escort duties repelled the attackers.
An angry Zulum confronted the Commanding Officer in Mile 4, mincing no words in expressing his disappointment at the inability of the military to rid Baga and environs of insurgents saying “You people said there’s no Boko Haram here, then who attacked us?”
