Borno unfolds post insurgency plans

Highlights:

• Moves and plans to curb the operations of Boko Haram in Borno State
• The civilian JTF working at its best to curb the Boko Haram Insurgency
• Youths to be fully integrated into the plan as more jobs would be created to get them engaged and empowered.
• Borno State Government working closely in conjunction with the Nigerian Army.
• Nigerian Army Authorities to enlist qualified youths into the Nigerian Army
• Members of the Boko Haram group who have laid down their arms to be engaged.

The Borno Government said on Monday that it had produced a blueprint for full engagement of an estimated 20, 000 local vigilantes, called the Civilian JTF, after the Boko Haram insurgency.

Alhaji Kakashehu Lawan, the Commissioner of Justice stated this while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri.

Lawan was reacting to fears expressed by residents of the state that the unemployed vigilantes may become another security threat during post insurgency era.

“His Excellency, Gov. Kashim Shettima has developed a blue print for the post Boko Haram insurgency era in the state.

“One of the agenda on the blue print is youth integration, which encapsulates all youths in the state including members of the civilian JTF,” he said.

Lawan said that the blue print made provision for the creation of a youth empowerment agency to cater for the members of the civilian JTF.

“Already, a law has been passed by the Borno House of Assembly known as Youth Vigilante Empowerment Agency Law 2015, to cater for job creation particularly targeting members of the group.

“The agency is expected to engage members of the group by providing different kinds of jobs for them,” he said.

Lawan added that the state government had also made contact with the Nigerian Army authorities to enlist those qualified into the service.

“What we have done as a government is to liaise with the Nigerian Army high command to have a large chunk of them recruited into the army,” he said.

Lawan said that government also planned to recruit some of them as fire fighters in the state.

“We are also working on plans to recruit between 500 and 1, 000 of them as fire fighters in the state department of fire service.

“We also have plans to engage about 500 of them as Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO),” he said.

Lawan said that those who possessed higher educational qualification will be absorbed into the state civil service.

“Those who are graduates and National Certificate In Education (NCE) Certificate holders will be absorbed into the State Civil Service,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Civilian JTF which emerged in 2013 had helped greatly in developing effective community policing and enhancing the fight against Boko Haram in the state.

We only hope and pray that all the moves and plans of the Borno State Government would yield positive results, not just in short term, but also on a long term basis, so as to restore peace, law and order in the Boko Haram troubled state.

Source:
The Guardian.ng

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