About 100 Kaduna local hunters offer to go to Maiduguri and fight against Boko Haram

ABOUT 100 local hunters from across Kaduna State have volunteered to go to Borno State and fight alongside the army in the battle against Boko Haram in an attempt to help meet the government's deadline of eliminating the Islamic terrorist sect by the end of the year.

 

Upon assuming office in May, President Muhammadu Buhari changed his service chief and gave the new appointees a mandate to eliminate the Boko Haram scourge by the end of the year. However, several military analysts have warned that meeting the deadline may be hard as Boko Haram still have numerous active cells.

 

Apart from the fact that the terrorists still control swathes of territory in Borno State, they still have the capability to detonate bombs in various parts of northern Nigeria. Yesterday, the local hunters association in Kaduna State said that about 100 of its members were prepared to go to Maiduguri in an attempt to end the insurgency this year.

 

Alhaji Shehu Musa Al-Jan, the head of the hunters' association, said: "We are ready to go and fight the insurgents to a standstill. The military alone cannot end the psychological war, so we want to go there and assist them.

 

"We have contacted our members across the northern region and we know who and who are ready, so we just want an invitation from the government and we will land in Maiduguri without delay. We are ashamed of ourselves and we have brave and courageous men in the region, so we cannot fold our hands and continue to see the senseless killing of our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and wives by these blood thirsty and heartless men."

 

He added that he was optimistic that the December deadline to end the insurgency is possible, maintaining, that with serious commitment among the various security agencies and the combined efforts of their members, they shall defeat the insurgents. Alhaji Al-Jan, also said his members are involved in the recent recovering of stolen cows and ammunition at the Kumuku Forest in Birnin Gwari.

 

Adding that they worked with the state government to achieve this, Alhaji Al-Jan lauded the commitment of the state governor Nasir El-Rufai, saying the feat could not have been achieved without his support. According to Alhaji Al-Jan, Governor El-Rufai provided all the logistics support necessary to assist the security and his group was able to use this to bring the situation under control.