Borno Government Denies Holding #EndBadGovernance Protesters in Secret Facility

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has dismissed allegations made by political activist Omoyele Sowore that his administration operates a secret detention center in Maiduguri used to imprison #EndBadGovernance protesters.

Sowore, who ran for president in the 2023 election under the African Action Congress (AAC), claimed in a series of online posts that the state government runs a facility known as “The Crack FC,” where protesters were allegedly detained for over a year. He also accused Governor Zulum of mismanaging billions of naira by directing them toward Boko Haram rehabilitation efforts while detaining minors arrested during the protests.

Responding to these claims, Abdulrahman Bundi, the governor’s Senior Technical Assistant on Print and Digital Communications, described the allegations as false and misleading during a phone interview with Sunday PUNCH. “There’s no such facility. These claims are purely fabricated. The #EndBadGovernance protest is under federal jurisdiction, not the governor’s,” Bundi stated.

He also clarified that the Deradicalisation, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration (DRR) programme is not solely for ex-insurgents but supports victims of Boko Haram’s violence as well. Bundi urged the public to verify facts by reading the publicly available DRR document online to avoid falling for misinformation.