The Borno State Government monday disclosed that it had invested over N10 billion to procure armoured personnel carriers (APCs), patrol vehicles and hundreds of trailers of petroleum products in the fight against Boko Haram.
“We have also provided material logistics and intervention on area of accommodation to support security agencies in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency since 2011,” he said.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos at the weekend.
Jidda said so far, the state government had only received N200million contribution from the federal government.
He said the state had earlier decided not to make public its expenditures on the fight against Boko Haram because Governor Kashim Shettima always restrained officials in order not to be viewed as embarrassing the federal government since funding security falls under the exclusive legislative lists, which makes it the constitutional obligation of the federal government.
The SSG said the governor reversed his position given the series of allegations levelled against the state by mischief makers, part of which was the claim that the state was not supporting the military.
“First of all, let me say we were pushed into making public, these things I am about to say. For three years we dealt with these challenges without any noise since the government was doing it for Borno people. Some people are being made to assume that a certain security vote is provided to state governments, this is not true. No state gets a dime from Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) as security vote. Every state makes its own budget it intends to spend from its own normal allocations, for security not that external funds from the federal government accrues to any state.
“For us in Borno, we have spent over N10 billion in the last three years to support security agencies in the counter-insurgency. This doesn’t include our losses. We have lost thousands of citizens and in terms of material loss, we might be talking in tens of billions and in all of these Borno has received only N200million from the federal government as support even we have been co-funding the security that is exclusive preserve of the federal government.
“These over N10 billion has been spent in acquiring and donating over 20 brand new ultra modern APCs to the Nigeria Police Force. The government has acquired and donated about 400 brand new Toyota Hilux patrol vehicles each costing between six to seven million, we have a filling station that is dedicated to regular fueling of these vehicles, hundreds of trailers of fuel have obviously been consumed and is still being consumed, we maintain these vehicles, provide material logistics to troops, we even pay for intelligence through the military by releasing funds where they request, we have intervened in building hostels in one of the barracks along Maiduguri-Damaturu road and provided beddings to ease accommodation problems; we provide funds to families of soldiers killed in combat as immediate palliative.
“There were instances where we gave N1 million to families of every soldier at a presentation in Maiduguri. The only support we have not provided to the military is the acquisition of ammunition and that is because the laws prevent us from doing so. We do so much in mobilising citizens to support the military. The state government employed, trained and kitted thousands of youth volunteers called Civilian JTF who offer tremendous support to the military in terms of both intelligence gathering and even combats in front lines. We have provided these youths with patrol vehicles, pay them stipends, encourage them in other forms and they work hand in hand with the military.
“When there was attack on Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri last March, these inspired, trained and kitted youths came out in their hundreds and rushed to the barracks to support soldiers, this was even when gun battles raged at the barracks. This tells you the kind of community involvement in this fight and what Borno government does.
“We have lost dozens of traditional rulers as well as district and village heads, all of whom were killed because of their roles as key sources of local intelligence, these people see and report what happens and that is why the Boko Haram made them targets since 2010 after the first major crisis of 2009.
“We have a robust system of information gathering that is provided for processing by security agencies to get intelligence. All the good people of Borno are involved in this. The government is also accessible to security agencies.
“As a rule, no security chief in the state spends 10 minutes before having access to Governor Shettima no matter the time of the day. They either come or call him directly at any time they want and they are regularly attended to.
“The then director of operations at the Defence Headquarters, Major General Lawrence, openly talked about the extraordinary support we provide to the military when he visited Borno in 2013, the then chief of army staff also never failed to say it, the same with the GOC’s we have had. So we don’t know where the mischief makers got what they are telling the media that the Borno State Government has not been supporting the military.
“We are applying combat, political and economic approaches to fighting the insurgency. Our people are highly mobilised and they are doing their best giving information, many get killed in the process but they have remained resolute and consistent.
“It is therefore so unfair if despite all that the government is incurring and all that its people have lost in terms of lives and property, we are still made to look like the accused instead of the traumatised victims that we are as a government and people,” the SSG said.
Jidda said the state governor, being a very humble man who is committed to good governance, was always ready to cooperate with the federal government which was why he was quietly co-funding the military without making noise until he was pushed to the wall.
The SSG called on the media not to be misled by those who might want to confuse things for material benefits, noting that at every point in time, there are those who benefit from any crisis or disagreement at the expense of the larger society.
He thanked the media for what he described as “rooted support” and urged journalists to always stand by facts and figures which they should independently verify at all times.
He noted that focus must be on the insurgency and not to engage in trading of blame that aims at making victims the accused in a fight that threatens the existence of the victims.
