Zulum: I’m Not Aware of Any ISWAP-appointed Governor

Seeks FG’s assistance to repatriate 200,000 refugees

Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has emphasised that he is fully in control of the state, saying he is not aware of any part of the state being governed by Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).

Zulum said the reported appointment of a governor over some territories in Borno State by Boko Haram/ISWAP remains unauthenticated, restating that he is fully in charge of the state.

The governor, who made the disclosure yesterday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja, declared: “As far as I’m concerned, I’m the governor of Borno State, and I don’t have any information that we have another government in the Nigerian state. So I’m very much in charge.”

He, however, stressed that his government would not bother to investigate the issue.

There had been social media reports that the terrorists had appointed one Abba Kaka as the governor under a new leadership restructuring by an interim council.

The governor dismissed the authenticity of the report, saying: “We are yet to validate the authenticity of this report that ISWAP appointed a governor in Borno State. So, as the governor of the state, I think it’s not right for me to speak on something that I don’t have full knowledge of.”

Asked whether he would investigate it, Zulum said he won’t, blaming the report on the social media.