President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday promised to make more resources available to the Nigerian military to prosecute the war against insurgency in the country.
Buhari added that he would work closely with neighbouring countries on bilateral and multilateral levels to ensure that there is no hiding place for the terrorists.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President made the promises through his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, to the people of Borno State over the killing of at least 43 rice farmers by Boko Haram members on Saturday.
He described the massacre as the worst form of “senseless, barbaric and gruesome murder.”
In the message, the president expressed the condolences of the government and people of Nigeria and gave strong assurances of his continuous commitment to fighting insurgency and all forms of insecurity in Borno State and all over Nigeria.
“Nothing is more important than ensuring the security of lives and property of the people. Everything is secondary when security is at stake,” Buhari said.
“As we mourn the loss of our sons in Zabarmari, the Armed Forces have been given the marching order to take the fight to the insurgents, not on a one-off, but a continuous basis until we root out the terrorists.”
Buhari commended Governor Babagana Zulum for his leadership in running the affairs of the state.
Governor Zulum had presented several requests on behalf of his people, including that the youth of the state should be enlisted in military and paramilitary organizations to play their roles in defence of the state.
Zulum called on the federal government to assist in the repatriation of Borno indigenes in camps in neighbouring countries and requested the National Assembly to tweak the 2021 budget to allocate resources for the North East.
Reacting to the mass murder, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Ibn Garbai, described the incident as “madness,” and urged his subjects to pray and offer useful information to the security agencies.
