Governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima has described the suicide bombers usually deployed by the Boko Haram terrorists as victims of manipulation by a “misguided group of people” who feel they do not have a stake in the nation.

Shettima was speaking when he hosted the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Is’haq Modibo Kawu.

According to Shettima, the suicide bombers, especially the female teenagers are usually brainwashed by the insurgents into believing that detonating a bomb will just make them to disappear and then appear in a better place.

He said: “the female suicide bombers are just victims that have the misfortune of getting to meet the insurgents who drugged them with heroine and strap explosive on them and made them to believe they will just disappear and become better after detonating the explosive.”

He added that his administration is taking very seriously the reorientation and deradicalisation programme in order to change the mindset of the youths in the state.

He said that the insurgency started because many of the youth do not feel that they belonged to the society and therefore has no stake in it.

“If somebody has a stake in the system, he will sacrifice everything to ensure the system stands,” Shettima said.

“But if someone has no stake,  to him the system can go to hell.”

The governor said that the administration, through the state owned radio and television stations, is working on developing media programmes with lots of rich contents as part of efforts at changing the mindset of the misguided youths.

The DG of NBC, Kawu, told Governor Shettima that the commission has returned it’s zonal office to Maiduguri after it was moved from the state during the peak of the insurgency.

Kawu assured the governor of his commission’s readiness to assist the state in whatever capacity to ensure that the peace already restored back is maintained.