‘No insecurity is worse than food insecurity, people cannot be allowed to die of hunger’ – Borno Governor

The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, says famine is imminent in the state unless its farmers can return to their farms.

Zulum said this while speaking to BBC Hausa Service on Wednesday.

According to the Governor, the situation in Borno has become pathetic as thousands of refugees who have returned to their communities have no food and cannot cultivate their farmland.

“No insecurity is worse than food insecurity. Without food to eat terrible things can happen. We have reached a situation that if people are not allowed to farm they can kill themselves and eat,” Mr Zulum, a professor, said.

“Borno is now experiencing food insecurity. We cannot wait for things to get perfect for people to go to farm, we need to be resilient to Boko Haram attacks. We cannot accept a situation where five or 10 gunmen can dislodge a town with over ten thousand dwellers,” the governor said.

”People cannot be allowed to die of hunger and our children not going to school, that cannot happen,” Zulum added

The governor said the non-governmental organisations giving support have done their best but are no longer providing food assistance because they are overwhelmed.

Zulum said people have to return to their communities to farm and transact businesses.

Nigeria’s North-east region has been enmeshed in a bloody insurgency for over a decade which has resulted in thousands of deaths and mass displacement of residents in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.