BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 12, (THEWILL) – Residents of Borno State have called on the Federal Government to restore mobile telecommunication services suspended in the state following the declaration of emergency rule in the state.
Speaking in Maiduguri on Tuesday, the residents said the government should not continue to deny them their rights under the guise of emergency rule, lamenting that they are being shut out of the outside world .
They also lamented that quite a number of lives are lost on the highways leading to the state by people who travelled to make calls to their relatives and associates in neighbouring states.
GSM services were suspended in Borno on May 16, two days after emergency rule was declared by President Goodluck Jonathan in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. Though services have been restored to Yobe and Adamawa States over two months ago, Borno State is still shut out.
A member representing Kwaya Kusar state constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon, Saleh Banga, said the Federal Government has no more excuse for shutting down GSM services in Borno State .
“Many people lost their lives while traveling to Damaturu to make calls.We witnessed over 200 people massacred in Beneisheikh, we have never witnessed such killings in Maiduguri since the insecurity started, after the one year anniversary of the Boko Haram crisis,” he said.
Banga said if the telecommunication services were shut down due to Boko Haram attacks and not for punitive reason, the Federal Government has no reason to keep the people of Borno incommunicado and further risk their lives to the dangers of the road.
Another resident, Mallam Sani, said the shut down has affected the business of the people seriously leaving many broke. “The closure of the network has affected the economy and social lives of the people, as life without communication is dull and the people of the state are living like prisoners in their country,” he lamented.
“The elite and high profile Nigerians including politicians, business men and even top government officials have Thuraya phones and internet services in their homes.
“How would they care about us when they made law that Thuraya should not be used and they go about using it. In fact it has become a status thing to be able to call in Maiduguri,” he said.
He said it is only the masses that have to travel about to make calls, stressing that since Maiduguri and Jere are safe, government should restore network within Maiduguri metropolis.
On her part, a female resident, Hajiya Fatima Ali, called on the Federal Government to restore the network, saying Maiduguri is now safe and no Boko Haram member dares enter Maiduguri without being arrested.
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