The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has condemned the attack on his Borno state counterpart, Babagana Zulum, convoy that resulted in the death of atleast 11 police officers and members of Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and over 13 others sustaINING different degrees of injuries.
Ortom appealed to Zulum not to be deterred by the reprehensible ambush by Boko Haram and intensify cooperation with security agencies to restore peace to all parts of his state.
The governor, through a statement issued on Saturday by his spokesman, Terver Akase, sympathised with Zulum over the death of his security aides, describing the attack as unfortunate and shocking.
While charging the security operatives to work hard towards restoring peace to the state, he condoles with families of those who lost their lives in the attack and prays God to grant their souls eternal rest.
Earlier, Zulum assured the public and his colleagues that he was not ready to relent and that efforts would be intensified to ensure that peace returns to the state.
The governor, who described the attack on his convoy as sad, stressed that he was keen to ensure that the commercial activities that once thrive in Baga returns and boost the state gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In a statement by his spokesman, Isa Gusau, he said two convoys-, one belonging to him, and another for a committee on Baga reconstruction, had safely plied the Maiduguri-Baga route previous days before the third convoy of security men was ambushed yesterday even after precautionary steps had been taken to ensure safe trips.
The statement reads: “Governor Babagana Zulum is saddened by this unfortunate carnage. He shares the grief of families of these 11 priceless heroes to whom Borno shall remain grateful. The governor prays for the repose of their souls and urges all stakeholders to remain committed to ongoing peace building efforts.
“Zulum is of the opinion that we must continue to keep hope alive even in the face of tribulations, and believe that with sustained efforts and prayers, Borno will eventually regain peace. The situation facing us is a tough one but we must choose between doing something which gives us some hope and doing nothing which will leave us more vulnerable to Boko Haram’s ultimate wish to takeover Borno and bring it under their sovereign brutal administration”.
