Lawrence Olaoye 
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has assured that the insurgency in the North Eastern parts of the country would be over by next year. Zulum gave this assurance in an interaction with State House Correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa yesterday. According to him, his optimism was based on the massive defection of the Boko Haram members and those of the ISWAP in the region. Zulum, who disclosed that about 30,000 members of mostly Boko Haram insurgents have so far surrendered, said he discussed how the government would manage the people with the President.
The governor said the mass surrender of the insurgents was as a result of the non-kinetic approach adopted by the government adding, however, that there were still issues at the Lake Chad and Southern Borno areas. While expressing the hope that the government would deploy heavy military presence in Northern Borno to clear the ISWAP insurgents as done with the Boko Haram in the South, the governor said the govern- ment was working hard in returning the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to the two unpopulated local governments in the state.
Asked how long the insurgency could last with the spate of defection by the insurgents, Zulum said: “The way we are going, with the support of the Federal Government with good management, Boko Haram will be over very soon.” Pressed to be specific on whether it would end within his tenure expiring by 2023, he said “Insha Allah. Even now in Borno State, we’re doing very well, extremely well. Insha Allah. You know what I mean by Insha Allah, God willing.” The governor said the government gave no promissory note to the defectors just as he cautioned that people must understand the difference between those captured and those who willingly surrendered.
