Governor of Borno State Babagana Zulum has said there is a need to continue to fight poverty in the land.

The governor lamented that some people have been recruited into the Boko Haram group with an incentive as little as N5,000.

Speaking to the people of the state during the Democracy Day celebration and second-year anniversary of his government, the governor said he had recognized that no plan could succeed when hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens, especially those displaced by insurgents, live with hunger and indignity.

The governor who said a lot has been achieved in not only infrastructural development of the state but in the area of securing the people from Boko Haram attack noted that: “From records, we have experienced instances when insurgents offered as low as between 5,000 and 10,000 Naira to recruit some spies and smugglers of weapons.”

He said this made his government take steps ahead by making sure regular visit was made on IDPs in all parts of the state, including remote locations, to efficiently and sufficiently deliver food, cash support, and clothing.

He added that: “We needed to ensure that our good citizens had the support they needed, and they were not exposed to potential attractions for the incentives of insurgents.”

“There was the risk that insurgents could, after making IDPs socially and economically vulnerable, also explore that vulnerability by offering food and cash incentives to recruit fighters who could even serve as their spies in communities.”