The Special Adviser on Media to the Borno State Governor, Mr Isa Gusau, believes that the efforts of the Borno State Government have been a major force driving the progress in the search for the abducted schoolgirls from Chibok.
He made this assertion on Thursday while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he revealed that as soon as the video showing the girls was released, the State Governor, Kashim Shettima, directed that it should be mass produced for the Chibok people to identify the girls as a means of confirming the authenticity of the video.
He noted that despite the positive responses which had some of the girls identified by family members and schoolmates, the Governor insisted that the exercise should go beyond facial identification but to identify the girls with their names, and he facilitated the movement of some of the parents and witnesses of the abduction of the students to Maiduguri.
He said: “So far 77 of the girls have been identified by their names.”
Mr Gusau also said that the intentions of the State Governor was to send the free girls abroad for rehabilitation, but the manner in which some Nigerians have promoted pessimistic views about the girls’ abduction makes this difficult for the Governor.
He noted that in a situation where many Nigerians were already of the opinion that the schoolgirls’ abduction story was not real, any attempt to send them abroad would seem like a cover-up; a controversy that the State Governor was not willing to be involved in.
He also responded to a Security Consultant, Max Gbanite, who while appearing on Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, made comments suggesting that the Governor of the State had been too vocal and was out of place for divulging information on the number of girls identified in the new video released by the Boko Haram terrorist group.
Whilst thanking the analyst for his concerns, he berated him for speaking to the media from an uninformed mind-set.
He berated him for also misunderstanding Vanguard Newspaper which said that 77 girls had been identified as at Tuesday and going on to condemn the newspaper for giving information contrary to the number of 54 quoted by the Governor.
Mr Gusau corrected the notion by stating that the identification exercise was a continuous process and this was stated in the publication. He alleged that Mr Gbanite probably did not read the said newspaper before condemning it in the media; an act he noted would not help the situation.
He insisted that Chibok was never considered an unsafe zone and that was why the school was identified as one of those suitable for girls from other regions to converge for the purpose of writing their examination. He said that it was unfortunate that the incident happened.
Gusau declined comments on the alleged shooting incident in an Army Barracks, as he insisted that it was a military affair, which would be out of place being picked on by him in the media.
He, however, said that the Governor and all the security agencies in Borno State have been having a very cordial relationship, with the State Government offering quality cooperation to the military in the fight against insurgency.
He also claimed that Governor Shettima of Borno State had been the only governor in the affected states who have consistently provided real intelligence support to the military, a fact he said has been acknowledged by top military personnel.
He blamed the discrepancies in the information being released about the search for the abducted schoolgirls on lack of proper communication between the military and the government.
There had been a story in the dailies that some villagers in Borno State have killed about 200 Boko Haram members and Mr Gusau refused to give the actual figures as he claimed that this could cause confusion, but confirmed that there was indeed an attempt by the sect members to attack the village in their usual manner but the people put up a resistance which led to the killing of scores of the sect members.
He noted that there has been a mass movement by the people to resist the incessant killings and the state also has a vigilante group called the Civilian JTF trained, equipped and being paid by the State Government.
Mr Isa Gusau said that beyond efforts by all concerned parties, for the fight against the insurgents to be won, the blame game among Nigerians has to end. He called for more cooperation between the state and the Federal Government, as this would greatly help in fighting the insurgents.