Governor Babagana Zulum has directed security operatives to crack down on a notorious “Marlian” group, believed to be terrorising residents in some parts of Maiduguri and Jere, within the metropolis.
The “Marlian” group, which is populated by some youths associated with drug abuse, has gained notoriety for engaging in a wide range of criminal activities, such as extortion, robbery, drug and substance abuse, and acts of terrorism, including the killing of security operatives.
A statement issued by the governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, said that Governor Zulum, on Wednesday in Maiduguri, after an emergency security meeting at the Government House said, “I have summoned this Emergency Security Council Meeting to address the emerging security threat that is bedeviling the Maiduguri metropolis and parts of Jere Local Government and to come up with additional implementable strategies, to guarantee the needed peace and security,” Zulum began.
“Intelligence reports before my office from different sources, have indicated increasing activities of youth gangsterism, operating in some parts of the state capital and Jere Local Government. This syndicate specialized in phone snatching in broad daylight, robbery, and possession of locally made weapons, and has graduated into the killing of innocent lives, including security operatives,” the governor declared.
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Zulum, who was deeply concerned about the escalating violence, expressed the government’s determination to restore peace and ensure the safety of all residents.
“I want to assure the general public that the Government of Borno State, under my leadership, will not allow such a matter to deteriorate. I have received assurances from the security operatives of their commitment to tame such dastardly acts, and our administration is ever committed to dealing with such matters within the shortest possible time,” Zulum said.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
