Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Following continuous attacks on communities in Borno State, the government has asked the people of the state to be responsible for their own safety, by doing “everything” possible to protect themselves from members of the Boko Haram sect.

Deputy Governor Zannah Umar Mustapha who said this on Thursday at the palace of the district head of Kawuri, explained that the government was not shelving its responsibility of protecting lives and property of citizens, but needed the support of the people to adequately combat crime and insurgency in the state.

Mustapha had gone to commiserate with the people of Kawuri following attacks by members of the Boko Haram sect in which three persons were killed, 18 injured, with about 150 houses and shops burnt or destroyed.

He said that if the people of Maiduguri had relied solely on the security provided by government agencies, they would still have been tormented by the life-snuffing group, and urged them to take their destinies in their hands.

“The people of Maiduguri has since realised that and it is working for them as nobody can carry gun to go and killed a fellow human being without being arrested and brought to justice. I urged you to do the same by ensuring that you rise up to defend yourselves,” he said.

Mustapha said the government was concerned about the insecurity in the state and would do everything within its powers to restore peace to the area.

The deputy governor also annouced the donation of two new golf cars and two hundred and fifty thousand naira to youth volunteers in the village.

Some of the people of Kawuri who spoke to journalists, revealed that residents of the town were afraid to carry sticks and machetes like others in Konduga and Maiduguri because Kawuri village appeared to have many informants of the sect living in the village due to its proximity to Sambisa forest where military troops and insurgents have been battling since the declaration of state of emergency.

They alleged that the insurgents always visited the village in search of information, food and women and have not at anytime attacked the village until recently when they had problem with a youth volunteer group who came from Maiduguri.