MILITARY IS GUILTY OF BOKO HARAM - Niger State Gov, Aliyu Babangida.... Says, “Boko Haram did not start yesterday. It had been with us since 1990.

Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu who is the Chairman of the 19 Northern Governors Forum and Niger State Governor states that the country could be in a better situation with Boko Haram terrorists if the then military administration had taken control when the crisis started about 14 years ago in 1990. 

Speaking on the platform organised by the Correspondents Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists,  Aliyu said that it was not the responsibility of the northern governors to declare war on anybody or insurgents, as such powers belonged the Federal Government.


He noted that the Boko Haram war lasted till now due to the levity with which the sensitive issue was treated when it started.

"Boko Haram did not start yesterday. It had been with us since 1990. Sometimes in some parts of the North, some privileged children started tearing their academic certificates and said they were migrating. We failed to take any decisive action as we turned our faces against the act because we felt it did not concern us."

Muazu Babangida Aliyu added: ''Anybody who has gone to the university and you see him tearing his certificate; you will know that something is wrong somewhere and this is exactly what happened and here we are today and it is our hope that we will overcome this crisis."

The governor urges all Nigerians to be more vigilant and be more security conscious and of course join hands with all arms of government in order to overcome the insurgencies facing the country.

However, he said that the northern governors cannot as a team or individually wage war against the insurgents because it was not within their constitutional powers to do so.