Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno says the attack on his convoy last Wednesday in Baga, was carried out by soldiers of the Nigerian Army, against the initial belief it was Boko Haram insurgents

Scooper had reported about how Zulum survived an ambush by gunmen while on a trip to Baga, a town in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno, to distribute food to internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Addressing the army’s commanding officer in Mile 4 after the attack, the governor wondered why the army has not been able to secure Baga despite the number of troops deployed for over a year.

“You have been here for over one year now, there are 1,181 soldiers here; if you cannot take over Baga which is less than 5km from your base, then we should forget about Baga. I will inform the Chief of Army Staff to redeploy the men to other places that they can be useful,” Zulum was quoted by Channels TV as saying.



But speaking a day after the attack, in another Channels Television video sighted by SCOOPER Wednesday (see here: https://twitter.com/i/status/1289603223301419008), Zulum said what happened to him was a complete sabotage from the military.

“It is a complete sabotage… I cannot end my interview without clearly stating what happened yesterday. As far as I am concerned, there was no Boko Haram yesterday (Wednesday). It was a serious shooting by the Nigerian armed forces while ‘residing’ in Baga. The situation is very embarrassing.”

The governor’s statement underscores the disturbing security situation in Borno.

His statement suggests either sabotage by some soldiers or poor communication between the soldiers in Zulum’s convoy and those on the ground in Baga who shot at the convoy.

The army has said it is investigating the attack.

“The Nigerian Army wants to reassure the general public that this will be interrogated with a view to forestalling future re-occurance,” army spokesperson Sagir Musa said a day after the attack.

In his Thursday speech, Zulum said the failure of the military to take charge of Baga may lead to residents taking laws into their hands.

“Baga is important… We shall organise the community to take destiny into their own hands so that we can occupy Baga. That’s important”, he said.

SCOOPER earlier reported how governor Zulum asserted that there are forces in the system that do not want insurgency to end in the North East.

Zulum stated this on Sunday while playing host to a horde of governors who had him a solidarity visit over the recent attack in Baga – a town in Borno.

“Let me also re-echo my previous position with respect to the level of insurgency in Borno State, I earlier said that the gravity of the insurgency cannot be compared with what has happened between 2011 to 2015, and 2015 to date. Yes, it’s true. The President has done well," said the governor.

He continued, “But there’s sabotage in the system that will not allow insurgency to end; the President has to know this very important point.”

“When he came to Maiduguri two months ago, I said so because between 2011 to 2015, at a time, almost about 22 LGAs were under the insurgents.

“Out of the four main roads that lead to Maiduguri. only one was functional,” the governor added.