Protest Against Insecurity in Borno Suspended After Military Deployment
Hussaini Ibrahim 
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – A planned protest against rising insecurity and mass abductions in parts of Borno State was suspended on Monday following the deployment of heavily armed soldiers and armoured vehicles to the proposed protest venue in Maiduguri.
The demonstration, organised by concerned residents and youth groups, was expected to draw attention to worsening insecurity across parts of the North-East, where many families are still searching for relatives allegedly abducted by insurgents.
President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, confirmed that the protest had been postponed after consultations with legal advisers.
“We have reached out to our lawyer, who will re-draft our letter of notification and submit it to the government, the DSS and every concerned authority before we continue.”
“They sent military personnel to stop people who travelled all the way from Ngoshe to protest for their children and wives in captivity just to scare them away,” he said.
“This protest was meant to create awareness and show the government that the people are seeking answers,” he added.
“There are families of about 416 abducted persons and others from Biu who have continued to cry for help.”
He also said community leaders and youth groups had previously attempted dialogue and mediation efforts without achieving meaningful results.
“We have done everything possible to create a bridge between the government and these families to explore possible solutions, but nothing has worked,” he stated.
“These families are crying and begging while lamenting that the government is concentrating more on primary elections,” he said.
Efforts to obtain comments from the spokesperson of Operation Hadin Kai, Sani Uba, were unsuccessful as calls to his phone line were not answered as of the time of filing this report.
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Korede Abdullah 
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