The governor of Borno State in Nigeria warned that the jihadist group Boko Haram is making a comeback after combatants carried out a series of attacks and seized control of certain parts of the Northeast State.
Babagana Zulum called for more military aid to fight the rebellion.
The Nigerian government’s fear of the governor has been underestimated, saying the country’s security has improved over the past 18 months.
The Borno State has been the center of Boko Haram’s 15-year rebellion that forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes and killed more than 40,000 people.
At the top of the rebellion in 2015, Boko Haram controlled the huge area of Borno State before being beaten.
The militant group kidnapped more than 270 female students from Chibok, also located in Borno State in April 2014, and gained international infamous in April 2014.
In January, an ambush by the Boko Haram-style escape faction (ISWAP) in Islamic West African province killed at least 20 Nigerian soldiers, another attack during the same period killed 40 farmers.
Governor Zulum said it was frustrating that the group was attacked and kidnapped in many communities almost every day.
He said at a meeting with national security officials that the Borno state against jihadists was “failing”.
Security analysts say the concentration of soldiers responding to bandits and kidnapped in northwestern Nigeria has resulted in a decrease in the number of frontline troops in Borno and other parts of the Northeast.
Hamisu Sani, another analyst, told the BBC that beating Boko Haram is not easy, but it is not impossible.
“No matter how our army weakens them, they can always be regrouped and will continue to threaten,” he said.
“The solution is to smash the fighters as a whole – given the right support for our military, it’s possible.”
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