14th January, 2016
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahaman Dambazau (rtd) has confirmed the planned redeployment of police and paramilitary personnel to towns liberated from Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.
Dambazau who led some heads of the security agencies on assessment visit to Maiduguri said the government is desirous of ensuring adequate security protections of liberated towns for safety of the citizens.
The minister, who also paid visits on Governor Kashim Shettima and the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai El-Kanemi in Borno State, said the redeployment would commence soon.
He said: “We are in the state as part of effort to speak to the governors in the affected states and have on the ground assessment of situations.
“We are going to bring more personnel so that we can have back in place civil authority in the affected areas and to assist the military in the task of bringing security back to the areas.”
In his response, Governor Shettima commended the sacrifice of various paramilitary agencies who lost some of their personnel and facilities in affected towns during the insurgency.
Shettima urged Northern leaders to brace up to the challenge of insurgency in face of dwindling revenue by promoting peaceful coexistence and diversifying their source of revenue to address the joblessness in the region.
He said: “We need to wear our thinking caps those of us from the north so that we can found solutions to the impending crises that may consume the zone.”
Dambazau who has been on assessment visits states, including those in the North-East, will also visit Adamawa and Yobe states.