Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Zulum has said that the successful implementation of the Safe School Initiative has helped to stem the tide of kidnapping of students in the state.
Governor Zulum disclosed this while speaking to State House correspondents on Tuesday, shortly after he met behind closed doors with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governor said, “We started (the Safe School Initiative) not since now, because we launched this programme about seven to eight years ago due to the insecurity situation in our state.
“I believe almost most of our schools are well-fenced as part of the safe school initiative. We have also deployed the military, the civilian JTF, as well as hunters and vigilante who are working closely to ensure that our schools are safe.
“So we’re doing very well, I believe you haven’t heard much in Borno State as regards abduction of school children, it is because our school initiative is working very well. I also want to commend the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police and all others. We’re working closely and they’re doing very well in terms of safeguarding our own schools.”
Fielding questions on the number of people so far repatriated by the state government, he said, “So far so good, within the last six to seven years, not less than 100,000 people were repatriated. This is the official figure.
“The unofficial figures might be more than this. But I want to inform you that we still have remnants of people living in Chad, Niger and Cameroon. I need to discuss with the National Commission for Refugees as well as NEMA and other organizations before coming out with a figure.
“But the most important thing that I want to tell you is that we have started the repatriation and this administration is committed to ensuring that all our refugees living in our neighboring countries are repatriated before the end of this administration.”
Prof. Zulum declared that the take off of key institutions including the Yauri Irrigation scheme in northern Borno as well as the South Chad irrigation projects will help to consolidate the relative peace earnestly sought by the state.
This is as the Federal College of Education located in Gwoza is set to take off with the approval by the President.
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