Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has accused some unnamed Nigerian politicians and security operatives of working as informants to Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents.
Mr Zulum made the allegations during an interview on News Central on Wednesday.
He, however, vowed to strengthen intelligence gathering to deal with the terrorists and their collaborators.
“We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them ruthlessly.
“We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them ruthlessly.
“Let’s remove contractocracy. In six months, we can put an end to this madness. We need not politicise insecurity,” he said.
While reacting to concern about the possibility of surrendered insurgents returning to their previous acts of evil Mr Zulum assured that they have been supportive in the fight against terrorism.
“I cannot completely say that 100% of those people who have surrendered are doing the right thing, but I want to assure you that over 99% are doing well and are not participating in the ongoing terrorism,” Mr Zulum noted.
He reaffirmed the need for Nigeria to embrace both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, stressing that military force alone would never bring about a total end to insurgency.
Mr Zulum said: “Insurgency will never be ended by kinetic measures alone. We must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also properly put in place.
“What I mean by non-kinetic measures is social, political, and economic dimensions of the crisis. Our ongoing non-kinetic measures have yielded positive results with the support of the Nigerian military.”
While acknowledging that not all 500,000-plus repentant fighters may stay reformed, Mr Zulum believed that the system is largely working.
“Yes, I believe among the 500,000 or more that have repented, I cannot rule out the possibility of fewer of them going back to the bush,” he said.
