by James Sambo

The Deputy Governor of Borno state, Zanna Mustapha, has raised an alarm saying that Adamawa, Borno and Yobe may soon cease to exist, going by the rate at which the Boko Haram insurgents are steadily overunning towns within the states.

Mustapha made the comments in Adamawa while on a visit to thousands of displaced Borno indigenes that have been forced to leave their state and schools following the recent Boko Haram attacks in Mubi.

He said the continuous occupation of more towns by Boko Haram had confirmed the Borno state governor’s statement that the terrorists possessed superior weapons.

He said, “If the Federal Government will not add extra effort, in the next two to three months, the three North-Eastern states will no longer be in existence.”

Mustapha, while acknowledging the efforts of the Federal Government, called for more to be donw in tackling the terrorists.

“The Federal Government has tried its best but their best is not enough because rather than going after the insurgents, it is the insurgents that are going after us. It is a big crime that the criminals are better equipped than the military and they are just few kilometres from the Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states capitals,” he added.

The Deputy Governor disclosed that 13 local governments in Borno, three in Adamawa and others in Yobe were currently under the control of Boko Haram. He said, going by intelligence reports, if the Federal Government did not step up its security measures the fall of the three states would only be a matter of days or weeks.

Furthermore, he expressed his reservations about the supossed ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and the terrorists.

He said, “We are yet to believe that there is a ceasefire because the first day after the announcement was made, over 30 people were killed in Borno State, and (the terrorists) continued with their rampage in Adamawa, Gombe and only this morning there was a bomb blast in Yobe.”

“Let us appeal to the international community to come to our rescue otherwise in the next few months the three states may not exist,” he pleaded.