•Borno unfolds post-insurgency plans

From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri and Oladele Oguntimehin

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The Nigerian military, yesterday, canvassed more support from the media to help end insurgency and other uprising from similar groups in the country.
Theatre Commander of the Counter-Insurgency Operation, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irabor said the fight against Boko Haram was not over yet and urged newsmen to renew the reportorial skill in support of military efforts to end insurgency and return peace to the troubled North East states.
“The fight against insurgency and terrorism is a collective one to which the media should play critical and positive role. I wish to encourage you to be fair and credible in your reportage.
The nation belongs to us all and we should contribute positively to its development and peace,” the commander said yesterday in Maiduguri during a visit to the office of the Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Irabor urged journalists especially those based at the epicentre of insurgency to be “value addition” professionals.
He said it was left for reporters on the field to decide if they want to make life bearable or unbearable for the people of the affected North East states.
Meanwhile, Borno Commissioner for Justice, Alhaji Kakashehu Lawan yesterday said the state government has produced a blueprint for full engagement of an estimated 20, 000 local vigilantes, called Civilian JTF, after Boko Haram insurgency.
Lawan spoke in Maiduguri where he reacted to fears expressed by residents that unemployed vigilantes may become another security threat during post insurgency era.
“Governor Kashim Shettima has developed a blueprint for the post-Boko Haram in the state. One of the agenda on the blueprint is youth integration, which encapsulates all youths in the state including members of the civilian JTF,’’ he said.