The governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states in the North-East met on Saturday  in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to brainstorm on how to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency and the economic instability affecting the region.

The governors in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting demanded that the Federal Government should “ensure the deployment of state of the art military hardware to the region.”

Saturday’s meeting was the second by the North-East governors in recent times – the first having been held in Gombe in March 2020.

The governors, hosted by Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, deliberated on matters bordering on security, oil exploration, environment, agriculture, and infrastructural development.

A statement by Zulum’s spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, said in attendance at the meeting were the governors of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri; Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed; and Gombe State, Muhammadu Yahaya.

Taraba and Yobe states’ governors were said to be represented by their deputy governors.

Also at the meeting were the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, and the Managing Director, North-East Development Commission, Mohammed Alkali.

He said the meeting was chaired by the Secretary to the Gombe State Government, Prof Ibrahim Njodi.

The communiqué was read by the forum’s newly elected chairman, Governor Zulum.

The communiqué partly reads, “The forum commends the effort of the Federal Government of Nigeria in fighting the insurgency. However, the Armed Forces should intensify effort to secure hard-to-reach areas in the region and ensure safe access to farm lands.

“The forum called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure the deployment of state of the art military hardware to the region. The forum recommends that the manpower deficit in the Nigerian Armed Forces should be bridged by allowing the police to carry state of the art weapons where necessary and be provided with strategic equipment.”