Democracy Day: Borno Speaker expresses distress over inability of military to restore civil authority in Guzamala LG

Democracy Day: Borno Speaker expresses distress over inability of military to restore civil authority in Guzamala LG

By Ndahi Marama

The Speaker, Borno House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan has expressed deep grieve over the inability of the Nigerian Military and other security agencies to restore civil authority or return back thousands of people hitherto displaced by insurgents for the past 10 years to Guzamala local government headquarters.

The Speaker who also hails from Guzamala disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering his goodwill message at the celebration of the Democracy Day which took place at Ramat Square in Maiduguri, the state capital.

He said, although relative peace has been restored in many parts of the state, in which, Governor Babagana Zulum with support from members of the House of Assembly and other stakeholders, are relentlessly providing dividends of democracy at all levels, Guzamala Local Government Area in Northern part of the state, including Abadam council area have been denied all the opportunity, as they continue witness ‘zero- project’ for over decade.

Recall that Governor Zulum inaugurated a resettlement committee on 4th July 2022 to reconstruct and resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Gudumbali town which is the headquarter of Guzamala LGA of Borno State.

Governor Zulum had charged the Nigerian Army to recapture the town to enable the ongoing rebuilding and resettlement process, but to no avail.

Also lamenting, the Speaker said, “I have been appealing to the Federal Government and the military time without numbers to restore civil authority in Guzamala Council area, but all my plea to the military and other security agencies failed woefully.

“As long as we appreciate the good efforts put in place by Governor Zulum and the cordial working relationship that exists between the Executives, Legislature and the Judiciary in transforming all hitherto liberated communities in Borno, especially in the area of construction of roads, schools, hospitals, houses, provision of Agricultural inputs, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of our displaced people, poverty alleviation, jobs creation among others, the people of Guzamala and Abadam local government council have recorded zero-project for over decade due to its inaccessibility by civilians.

“Even Kukawa local government area where there are presence of civil authority, there is no presence of military or any security operatives in Kukawa Council headquarters, and that is why the resilient people living inside Kukawa town were served with a warning or threatened letters recently by ISWAP terrorists to vacate the town or risks their lives.

“As we celebrate the 2024 Democracy Day, I want to reiterate my appeal to the federal government under the leadership of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Military authorities to restore civil authority in Guzamala Council and other inaccessible areas, so that our displaced people taking refuge in Niger Republic or those living in host communities of Maiduguri metropolis and Gajiram, Monguno local government areas should go back to their ancestral homes and pick up their pieces”. Speaker Lawan stated.

Earlier in his address, the Acting Governor, Dr. Umar Kadafur informed the gathering that a committee set up under the Chairmanship of the Commissioner for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Hon. Sugum Mai Mele, and the Multi National Joint Task Force, MNJTF are working round the clock to restore normalcy and relocate back displaced people of Guzamala to their ancestral homes, Government will expediate action to resettle all Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs back to their communities before the end of its tenure.

He also said, in the spirit of the Democracy Day, 10 prisoners were pardoned, even as the state government is doing everything possible to restore the relative peace in the entire state and continue providing infrastructural development across the 27 local government areas.

Democracy Day: Borno Speaker expresses distress over inability of military to restore civil authority in Guzamala LG