By Baba Yusuf
Maiduguri
Borno state governor Kashim Shettima has said that he has been trying hard to restrain himself from making comments about the Boko Haram insurgency, adding that if he were to disclose what he knew, many heads would roll.
The governor, who was urged to go on with the disclosure by the crowd of #BringBackOurGirls protesters who met him at the Borno state Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, declined to reveal anything .
He said such disclosures would only overheat the polity, stressing that he had made up his mind to keep quiet and let “take things unfold by themselves.”
Shettima expressed regrets over doubts of the kidnap in certain quarters, citing the comments attributed to the National Woman Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs Ka Chikwe, stressing that they were echoes of opinions at the “higher level.”
He said the government had met with some parents from Chibok who watched the video and subsequently identified 36 of their wards from the clip.
Shettima reiterated that he had information regarding movements of the insurgents, but added that “I cannot reveal everything so that we do not put our daughters in danger.”
He said the state government had a very good channel of sourcing information from the villagers through local leaders and traditional rulers.
“Anywhere the villagers suspect an unusual movement of vehicles, they pass the information to the village heads who pass it to the Shehu of Borno, the Shehu of Dikwa, Shehu of Bama, Emir of Biu or any other chief in the state.”
Reacting to the charge that the government was foolhardy in letting students attend school under security threats, Shettima said the school in Chibok was considered relatively safe after thorough assessment of all schools and towns before the examination.
In their respective addresses, a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, and Hajiya Maryam Uwais said they were at the Governor’s Lodge to hear from Shettima his own rules regarding the efforts being made to rescue the kidnapped girls.
