Shortly after the meeting, some governors in separate interviews with The PUNCH, appealed to the Federal Government not to withdraw troops from their states. The governors include Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Darius Ishaku of Taraba State and their counterpart in Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle. The Federal Government’s decision on troop withdrawal is coming amid fresh threats by the Islamic State West Africa Province, now working in collaboration with Boko Haram. However, the Security Council clarified that the military would first conduct a “threat assessment” to determine the specific areas where the troop withdrawal would cover. Troop withdrawal, a welcome development, says Plateau govtBut the Plateau State Government described the Federal Government plan as a welcome development.

Source: Punch December 31, 2019 00:56 UTC