95% of Borno protesters underaged – Zulum

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has alleged that 95 per cent of the youths who participated in Thursday’s violent protests in Maiduguri were children under 14 years old.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zulum made this known in a broadcast to the people of Borno, where he also declared the lifting of the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state.

Zulum said: “Over 95 per cent of those who participated in the so-called Thursday protests were children under 14 years. Most of them do not know why they are protesting.

“A six-year-old child carrying a placard is amazing; he must have been directed by someone. Most of those children are not from Borno.

“While we are not discouraging the Almajiri education, we must, however, have their teachers or guardians looking after them.”

Zulum said that a situation where thousands of children were living in Maiduguri in the name of Almajiri without care from anyone needed to be looked into.

He said that some of the actions of the hoodlums that hijacked the Maiduguri protests included the destruction and looting of public properties including hospitals.

“In what could have been a major disaster, attempts were made by the hoodlums on several occasions to attack the Maiduguri Emergency Power Gas Plant, however, it was averted by our gallant security forces..

“Violence has no place in our society and I implore citizens to reject any call to arms or act of aggression.

“As we lift the curfew on Saturday, any person that engages in looting and violent activities will be dealt with accordingly,” Zulum said.

He reiterated the commitment of his administration to positively transform the state, citing interventions in various sectors, particularly infrastructure, health and education.

Zulum said: “We have distributed rounds of food and non food items palliatives within Maiduguri and other LGAs, scaled up our support to farmers through sales of fertiliser, and provided seeds and farm inputs to enhance food production.

“We want to also invest in irrigation agriculture and livestock development. ”