Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno state, has asked the media to stop giving publicity to the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, whom he described as a lunatic.
Speaking on Tuesday after a national emergency meeting on the north-east with President Goodluck Jonathan, Shettima said: “Shekau is a lunatic. He is a deranged element. He is not somebody anybody should give any molecule of respect. His actions are beneath the act of even an animal, believe me. ”
He said the meeting with the president was fruitful.
”We had a very fruitful deliberation and pollination of ideas on how to find lasting solution to the insurgency bedevilling us in that part of the world.
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“I’m an eternal optimist and I am passionate too for that matter, that we shall have enduring peace very soon with the very robust frame work on ground. We don’t want to mention a date or anything but I believe our military is arising to the challenges of the time.
”Our military will robustly respond to the challenges, I believe. Like I said earlier, I’m an eternal optimist; we have to hope for the best against whatever odds,” he said.
On the number of local governments currently under insurgency stronghold, he said: ”There are some local governments that are partially under the control of the insurgents and there are some that are largely under our control.
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“I really don’t want to bolster Boko Haram by quoting numbers and figures because these lunatics feast on the oxygen of publicity.
“The more publicity they get, the happier they become. I don’t want to give them that luxury. But I want to assure you that with 1,000 years of recorded history, Borno shall rise again in spite of all the challenges, believe me Insha Allah.”
He expressed optimism that elections would hold in the states affected by the insurgency.
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