Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, has raised alarm over the presence of informants and collaborators aiding insurgents from within the Nigerian armed forces, political class, and local communities.

“We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them ruthlessly,” Zulum stated during an appearance on News Central’s Breakfast Central on Wednesday.

His revelation adds a new layer to Nigeria’s counter-insurgency conversation, emphasising the need for internal cleansing and enhanced intelligence operations to defeat terrorism.

The governor, who has consistently championed both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to tackling insecurity, reiterated that military force alone will not bring an end to the insurgency in the North-East.

He said, “Insurgency will never be ended by kinetic measures alone. We must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also properly put in place.

“What I mean by non-kinetic measures is social, political, and economic dimensions of the crisis. Our ongoing non-kinetic measures have yielded positive results with the support of the Nigerian military.”

Zulum revealed that while not all surrendered insurgents may be fully reformed, more than 99% have abandoned terrorism and are reintegrating into society.

“I cannot completely say that 100% of those people who have surrendered are doing the right thing, but I want to assure you that over 99% are doing well and are not participating in the ongoing terrorism,” he said.

The governor also lamented that the Nigerian Army does not have the necessary equipment to fight insurgency.

“The army doesn’t have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgents and I want to also inform you that, right now, the insurgents are using technology to fight the soldiers on ground.

“A few days ago, I had a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, and he said he was looking for 32 drones to end the insurgency and he’s right.

“Each drone is costing about $5.5 million, so why can’t we pull resources together to buy these drones and prioritize insecurity?

“Another issue we shall look into is that of procurement of military equipment, both hardware and software. Let’s deal directly, government to government, so that we can get value for money, otherwise most of the contractors won’t buy the equipment if you give them money.”

While expressing doubts about the effectiveness of state police, the governor advocated for the deployment of forest guards and stressed the importance of listening to professional military advice at the federal level.

“I don’t think the state police can do better than the forest guard.

“The forest guard shall be provided immediately. The president of Nigeria needs to listen to those who can differentiate their left from their right.”

“We should not politicise insecurity. The president needs to listen to the people that can tell him the right thing. The president should listen to the army.”

[Vanguard]