Despite the extreme discomfort being suffered by residents of Borno State over the non-availability of telecommunications services, the state government has said that it is not interested in having GSM services restored in the state for now.
This was made known by the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Zannah Umar Mustapha while receiving members of the Senate Committee on Defence, Police, Army and National Security, during a visit to the state, on Monday.
According to him, the government was not interested in the restoration of GSM network services for now, as it would destabilize the relative peace being enjoyed in the state.
It will be recalled that since the declaration for the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the Joint Task Force (JTF) has cut off telecommunications services in the states, in their offensive raid on Boko Haram sect members.
However, Adamawa and Yobe States have had their GSM services restored over the past three weeks, while that of Borno State was restored briefly for some hours before being turned off again.
Mustapha commended the committee, led by its chairman, Senator George Sekibo, for their concern on how to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, adding that the committee had demonstrated a sense of nationalism, for revisiting the state to assess the security situation.
The deputy governor said although there were pockets of killings by suspected Boko Haram members in Mainok village, Biu and Kukawa council areas, the government was optimistic that total peace would be restored across the state in no distant time.
Earlier, Senator Sekibo had told the deputy governor that they were in the state for the second time to assess the security situation, meet with security agencies and stakeholders, with a view to collectively review the security challenges in the state.