How Poor Residents Connived with Boko Haram Terrorists to Destroy Jonathan's Administration - Borno State Governor Reveals

A Boko Haram member caught by the army (File photo) 

The Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has alleged that some poor residents of the state intentionally connived with Boko Haram insurgents to cripple the efforts of the military and frustrate the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Governor who is also the Chairman of Northern States Governors’ Forum, NSGF, made the shocking revelation in Kaduna.


He revealed further how the poor residents would collect money from the terrorists to give information that will compromise the military.

He said, “Poverty, Poverty and I say again, poverty, is to many of us, the number one monster dragging backward, our Northern Nigeria. “For instance, in June, 2013 (while President Jonathan was in power), we recorded a good number of extremely poor persons, who were recruited for as little as N5,000 to either spy on soldiers and report their vulnerability to insurgents, attack and set schools ablaze by late night or in some cases, poor old women were paid similar amounts by insurgents, to either keep arms in their huts or smuggle arms from one point to another.

“One case I always remember is that of one Musa Grema, a 13 year old boy who revealed that he accepted N5,000 to set three of our primary schools ablaze and also spy on soldiers, because his parents relied on him for their feeding.

“Some may argue that theirs are societies with common tribes while ours in northern Nigeria, is the multi-ethnic reality of the African mix, as some researchers call it. This African-mix is ordinarily a comparative advantage and we can make it so.”