The governors of the six northeast states said to defeat the Boko Haram extremists, the Nigerian police must be well armed to assist the military in its operation in the region.
The governors under the aegis of North East Governors’ Forum, at a sub-regional meeting in Maiduguri, called for intensified efforts to secure hard-to-reach areas in the region and ensure safe access to farmlands.
The governors, comprising those of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states, in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting called on the Federal Government to deploy state of the art military hardware to the region.
At the meeting, the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, was nominated and endorsed as the forum’s chairman.
They also recommended in the communiqué that the manpower deficit in the Nigerian Armed Forces should be bridged by allowing the Police to carry state of the art weapons where necessary.
They also suggested that the police should be equipped with strategic equipment like high-velocity tear gas, trackers and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC).
The forum also declared their commitment to fostering regional integration, growth and development “especially in exploitation of its oil and gas potentials, mineral resources, agriculture and industrialization.
The governors called on the federal government to revoke selected roads contracts awarded by the federal ministry of works for years without progress and re-award same to more competent contractors to ensure timely execution.
They also called on the federal government to ensure local content in the execution of the Mambila Hydroelectric power project and other programmes of the North East Development Commission to ensure synergy with state governments.
The forum said it supported the management and board of the North East Development Commission and agreed to work together in producing a comprehensive strategic Master Plan for the region that will ensure sustainable development.
On the Almajiri system, the governors said they are in total support of the federal government’s plan in transforming the system “to strengthen both Islamic and western education as well as stop street begging and prevalence of out of school children in the region as agreed by the Northern Governors.”
