A group, National Democratic Front, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in Borno following the renewed spate of insecurity in the state.
According to the group, President Buhari must stop local government allocations to the state so as to prevent individuals from illegally profiting from the crisis in the region.
Secretary General of NDF, Dr Abdulkadir Bolaji, speaking during a briefing with journalists, said that the call became imperative following the killing of about 30 persons in Auno area of the state by Boko Haram terrorists last Sunday.
He said, “Last Sunday, the nation woke up to the news of another round of violence, mayhem, arson and bloodletting by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
“In that particular incident, which happened at Auno, more than 30 persons were said to have been killed while many others were wounded and left for the dead.
“Borno State which has suffered much pains and sorrow due to the activities of these terrorists over the years does not deserve another round of such heinous crime and wanton bloodletting.
“While we join the rest of the world to mourn this tragedy, we must not lose sight of the fact that the sudden resurgence of violence and the boldness exhibited by the terrorist groups operating in the fringes of the North-East of Nigeria are not beyond human conspiracies.
“We have observed that it is whenever peace and security is attained in Borno and federal authorities or any other body starts talking about conducting local government elections in the state, that is when there would be a relapse to violence and terrorists would strike.
“The case of Borno is even worse as the state had not witnessed local government elections since the upscale of insurgency.
“What this means is that the governor reserves the right under a caretaker or interim arrangement to appoint his cronies to man the affairs of the local councils.
“With 23 local governments, what accrues to Borno as local government funds is quite huge and since there are no elected structures, it is at the discretion of the governor and his appointees to dispense the funds.
“We call on the Federal Government to in view of the security situation in Borno discontinue releasing local government allocation to the state until elections are conducted at that level.
“We call on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Borno State to forestall further attack on the people.”
Recall that President Buhari immediately arriving Nigeria from Ethiopia on Wednesday went straight to Borno to sympathise with the people over the killing of the 30 people and destruction of valuables.
However, shortly after the President was booed and left the city, Boko Haram terrorists again attacked residents of Jiddari Polo on the outskirts of Maiduguri, that state capital, destroying houses and killing several persons.
