The Coalition of Friends and Supporters of Buhari (CFSB) has warned Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum and his aides over any attempt to sabotage President Muhammadu Buhari’s insurgency war with their campaign of calumny against the military.
According to the pro-Buhari group, Nigerians would reject any move to blackmail or ridicule the military and the president’s insurgency war.
CFSB made this disclosure in a statement signed by its Director of Media, Audu Atumeyi, on Thursday.
The group said it is gradually becoming a pattern for Zulum to accuse the military of wrongdoing without the necessary facts and evidence to back it up.
In the statement, CFSB outrightly denied his latest claim that troops engage in fishing business in Borno, describing it as untrue.
“The allegation about troops engaging in fishing business is totally untrue as no military top commander control their postings and therefore cannot afford the luxury of investing in ventures like fishing when they know not when they’ll be removed from such stations,” Atumeyi said.
“Secondly, only a foolish officer would abandon the task of fighting Boko Haram with all the inherent danger, and engage in buying and selling when he knows that going by the callousness of the Boko Haram members and their desperation to hit at Nigerian troops, they could spring surprises at any time if guards are lowered.
“Thirdly, most of the officers and military men posted to these stations are from other battalions whose knowledge of the fishing terrain are technical but not to the extent of taking over the businesses of residents and indigenes.
“There are, for instance, said to be about 200 permanent and semi-permanent fishing communities in Baga town and over 40,000 fishermen on the Nigerian side of the Lake Chad which is shared by Nigeria, Chad, Niger Republic and Cameroon.
“How the military can take over the business of dealing in not less than seven fish species with over 40,000 participating interests who have been involved in it for years remains a puzzle.”
The group added that Zulum and other political elites in Borno should be held responsible for the continued activities of Boko Haram in the state.
According to CFSB, neighbouring governors and politicians have shown more will to end terrorists’ activities in their domains.
“That Boko Haram activities have lingered only in Borno State while it has abated in other states should serve as the worst point of curiosity,” the statement added.
“The simple answer is that while states like Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe and Bauchi have been serious about ending the insurgency the political leaders and elites in Borno State are not sincere.
“The truth is that many politicians from Borno State do not want the insurgency to end because they are making money as the terrorist activities linger and it serves their political interests to sustain their nefarious activities.
“The elites, elders and stakeholders in Borno are perpetrating the violence because they are benefitting from it and that is why they never condemn the atrocities committed by these terrorists.
“These elites are also involved in big-time smuggling across the border and take advantage of the absence of paramilitary forces to up their games.
“Rather than the military, it is this group of people that engage in the fishing business in Baga where they have supplanted both the middlemen and wholesalers.”
The group, however, called on “other well-meaning Nigerians to totally, reject the attempts by the Borno State Government to ridicule the military.”
It further called on the “Borno State Governor to stop all the baseless allegations and collaborate with the military to find solutions to the problem of terrorism ravaging his state.”
