The Senator representing Borno South, Senator Ali Ndume, has said he never stated that a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Tukur Burutai, was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents.

He said a statement he made during a Channels Television interview was misconstrued, stressing that he only stated that Buratai town in Borno State, where the former COAS hails from, was attacked.

“I am surprised that the town Buratai could be misconstrued as the person of General Buratai, who incidentally hails from the town,” he said.

“What I said on Channels Television while speaking on security was that even two days ago, Buratai (town) was attacked in front of the operations base in Borno. But the soldiers stood up to them. They burnt down some of our assets.

“'Normally, these days they burn assets like Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs), tanks, and heavy-duty machine guns. Sometimes they steal some of this equipment and go with them.”

Ndume also spoke about the worrying state of insecurity in the country, especially in his home state.

“The situation is getting terrible in Borno. The situation is bad in all six geo-political zones, except in the south-south,” he said.

”Even in the south-south, we are grappling with economic sabotage like oil theft. South-west is the only region that is relatively safe.”

ASA