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| Ibrahim Gaidam |
The governor, in a statement through his Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Abdullahi Bego, noted that if the government did not use the nation's military power to quell Boko Haram insurgency, the extension of the state of emergency would amount to "motion without movement".
The statement added: "Governor Gaidam acknowledges that it is within the powers of the President to proclaim a state-of-emergency on any part of the country, subject to the approval of the National Assembly, if and when the security situation calls for it. This was why the governor supported the President's declaration of a state-of-emergency in the three affected states six months ago.
"Gaidam believed then that the measure was necessary to allow for the deployment and use of all the elements of our military power to deal with the prevailing criminal and violent insurgency.
"Over the past six months, however, the efficacy of the state of emergency has been demonstrably checkered. While the military and other security agencies on ground have done and continue to do a commendable job in very difficult circumstances, insurgents and criminals are still able to carry out heinous and despicable attacks on innocent people.
"We still remember and mourn the innocent victims of attacks on our schools in Damaturu, Mamudo and Gujba towns.
"We cannot forget scores of other innocent victims who were killed, maimed or deprived of livelihoods by criminals and insurgents who have not a speck of respect or feeling for human life. And our people still continue to endure hardships as a result of the prevailing security situation.
"The governor understands that recent attacks across the Northeast could be used as a rationale for the extension of the state of emergency.
"The governor believes, however, that it is time the Federal Government moved beyond nomenclature and actually addressed the ongoing senseless and violent insurgency as a national emergency."
