In an effort to restore civil authority in the shores of Lake Chad, Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum has ordered the procurement of nine armored personnel carriers for the Nigerian police.
Inspecting the first batch of three Armoured Carries in Maiduguri, Governor Zulum explained that the remaining six are expected to arrive the state capital at a later date.
He inspected the vehicles in company of Borno state commissioner of police, Mr Abdu Umar.
According to the Governor, the State Government procured nine of the armored vehicles while the Inspector General of Police approved the installation of arms and ammunition on them, since the state government has no constitutional powers to acquire such arms.
Governor Zulum expressed hope that the vehicles would enhance the operations of a special police unit towards restoring civil authority in Malam-Fatori in order to compliment the effort of Nigerian military.
The Governor had last month led residents and government officials to embark on the clearance of the town to pave way for the reconstruction of public facilities and private homes towards safe and voluntary resettlement of residents, who fled to Niger republic.
Malam-Fatori, which came under Boko Haram occupation in 2014, is headquarters of Abadam local government area in northern Borno and has a number of communities sharing boarders with Niger Republic.
Governor Babagana Zulum had in the last two years distributed about 1,000 surveillance vehicles to the military, other security agencies and volunteers in the ongoing peace-building efforts.
Dauda Iliya