Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has raised a fresh alarm over the regrouping of Boko Haram and Islamic State insurgents in the Tumbus areas of Lake Chad and the Mandara Hills within the Sambisa Forest.
The governor expressed concern about what he described as a setback in military operations, noting that terrorists were reorganising in the Tumbus waterways on Lake Chad without resistance from security forces.
He issued the warning in Maiduguri on Friday during a visit by the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, and other senior military commanders. Zulum acknowledged the efforts of the military in combating insurgency in Borno and the North-East but stressed that there had been a resurgence of terrorist activities in specific areas, particularly around the Tumbus in Lake Chad and the Mandara Hills in Sambisa Forest.
He said, “What we are facing now is, we do military exercises/operations, and after some time, we disengage. The Boko Haram and ISWAP members will again come and take over those areas that were hitherto regained. There was never a time since the insurgency started that operations were conducted on the shores of the Tumbus in the Lake Chad. And, it has been a breeding ground for the insurgents. They can get money, livelihoods, and everything in that water.” He added that military operations needed to extend into the waterways because terrorists across the North-West, North-Central and North-East return to the Sahel and Tumbus in Lake Chad for survival.
Zulum outlined challenges affecting security efforts, including a shortage of military personnel covering the Timbuktu Triangle, Tumbus, Mandara Hills and Nigeria’s porous borders with Sahelian states. He said, “Manpower is very essential, while I was aware of the constraints of the Nigerian army, because right now, you are everywhere in Nigeria. The Northeast, Northwest and North Central as well as southern Nigeria. I’m aware of your limitations. But still considering the northeastern region, the Nigerian army should look into the possibility of sending more trained manpower. There is a difference between Boko Haram, ISWAP, and bandits.”
He emphasised that Boko Haram and ISWAP are internationally supported terrorist groups and warned that porous borders allow infiltration from the Sahel. He said, “ISWAP and Boko Haram are terrorists getting support internationally, and looking at our porous borders remain infiltrated through the Sahel, which is our major problem. If the Sahel is not secured, Nigeria will never be secured. So, there is a need for us to fortify the security situation in the Sahel with a view to ending the crisis in the entire nation.”
The governor called for increased manpower and continuous military operations across the region, stressing that sustained action was critical to preventing insurgents from reclaiming recovered territories. He said, “So, we need manpower, and in terms of military operations, the operation should be a continuous exercise.”
