Insurgency: Buhari visits Borno to appraise security situation today

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Muhammadu Buhari will pay a one-day working visit to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital today to assess the security situation in the beleaguered state and the Northeast geopolitical zone generally, following the activities of insurgents.
Recall that Borno State has been under attack by Boko Haram insurgents since 2009, leading to occupation of several local governments in the state and its neighboring Yobe and Adamawa states prior to the advent of the Buhari administration in 2015.
Today’s visit, according to presidency sources, will give Buhari the opportunity to do a first hand and on-the-spot assessment of how successful the efforts of his administration to restore peace and stability to the state and the region have been.
Government had announced for the umpteenth time that it had decimated Boko Haram, but until recently the activities of the sectarian group had increased with massive attacks on rural communities in the state.
A resident of Wulari area of Maiduguri, Madu Goni told journalists that substantial peace has been restored in the state as frequent attacks by insurgents have significantly reduced.
“I can say with all convictions that we are on a steady path to peace and stability. At least for sometime now unlike the past, we no longer hear of frequent attacks on communities.
“What I think is left now is for government to ensure that the teeming number of IDPs are enabled to return home. That may not be immediately but I think it should not be far away from now if the current level of peace is sustained,” he said.
Buhari is scheduled to address troops and visit the wounded soldiers recuperating in a heath facility in Maiduguri.
The visit, according to Government House sources in Maiduguri, will also enable the president to commission a number of infrastructural projects completed by the Professor Babagana Zulum-led All Progreasives Congress, APC, administration in Borno.
Projects expected to be commissioned by the president include schools, hospitals and housing estates.