Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has alleged that certain military personnel and politicians are serving as informants and collaborators for Boko Haram insurgents. Speaking on Wednesday during an interview on News Central’s Breakfast Central, Zulum warned that these internal saboteurs are prolonging the insurgency and vowed to take ruthless measures against them.
“We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them ruthlessly,” the governor declared.
Zulum’s statement adds urgency to ongoing national conversations around security and accountability, especially concerning the country’s efforts to end a conflict that has plagued the North-East for over a decade. According to him, the entrenched sabotage by insiders requires not just military solutions but deep systemic reforms.
He was especially critical of what he described as “contractocracy” in the security sector, a term he used to describe excessive dependence on military contractors rather than direct procurement. He argued that if the will and right structures were put in place, the insurgency could be ended in as little as six months. “Let’s remove contractocracy. In six months, we can put an end to this madness. We need not politicise insecurity,” Zulum said.
Zulum also used the platform to reaffirm his longstanding stance that the war against Boko Haram cannot be won through kinetic means alone. He emphasized the importance of non-kinetic strategies, which include social, economic, and political approaches to addressing the root causes of the insurgency.
“Insurgency will never be ended by kinetic measures alone. We must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also properly put in place,” he said. “Our ongoing non-kinetic measures have yielded positive results with the support of the Nigerian military.”
As part of these measures, the Borno State government has facilitated the surrender and reintegration of former insurgents. Zulum acknowledged that while not all of the over 500,000 repentant fighters may remain reformed, the vast majority are no longer involved in violence.
“I cannot completely say that 100% of those people who have surrendered are doing the right thing, but I want to assure you that over 99% are doing well and are not participating in the ongoing terrorism,” he stated. “Yes, I believe among the 500,000 or more that have repented, I cannot rule out the possibility of fewer of them going back to the bush.”
The governor also highlighted the technological gap between the insurgents and the Nigerian military. He pointed out that insurgents have begun leveraging advanced technologies, including drones, while the military remains under-equipped.
“The army doesn’t have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgency,” he said. “A few days ago, I had a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, and he said he was looking for 32 drones to end the insurgency and he’s right. Each drone is costing about $5.5 million, so why can’t we pull resources together to buy these drones and prioritize insecurity?”
Zulum advocated for direct government-to-government military procurement to avoid corruption and inefficiencies. “Let’s deal directly, government to government, so that we can get value for money, otherwise most of the contractors won’t buy the equipment if you give them money.”
Addressing broader security reforms, the governor expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of proposed state police forces. Instead, he emphasized the immediate deployment of forest guards as a more viable solution for combating insurgents hiding in remote areas.
“I don’t think the state police can do better than the forest guard. The forest guard shall be provided immediately,” he said.
In his final message, Zulum appealed directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prioritize the advice of professional military personnel over political interests. “The president of Nigeria needs to listen to those who can differentiate their left from their right. We should not politicise insecurity. The president should listen to the army,” he concluded.
