Governor Zulum has urgently called for newly trained Forest Guards to be deployed to support the military, following a devastating Boko Haram attack that killed 63 people in the Darajamal community of Bama Local Government Area.
The victims included 58 residents and five soldiers.
During a visit to the grieving community on Saturday, Governor Zulum described the killings as “very sad” and offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
“We are here to commiserate with the people of Darajamal over what happened last night that has claimed the lives of many people. It is very sad,” he stated.
The governor highlighted the tragedy of the timing, noting that the community had only been resettled a few months ago and its residents had just begun to return to normal life before the attack.
Zulum argued that the military alone cannot secure all vulnerable areas in the state and emphasized that deploying the Forest Guards is a critical next step to strengthen security in rural communities.
“We must understand that the number of military personnel is not sufficient to provide security in all areas,” Zulum said. “Therefore, one of the solutions we need to implement immediately is to deploy the trained Forest Guards to most of the vulnerable locations. They will protect the forest and communities.”
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
