President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said Boko Haram has survived this long because they have the backing of the local people who are familiar with the terrain.

Buhari said this on Wednesday when he paid a condolence visit to Maiduguri, Borno state capital.

The visit is coming days after Boko Haram insurgents killed 30 people during a deadly attack on Auno, a community 20km from Maiduguri, on Sunday.

It was, however, gathered that Buhari left Borno state on Wednesday, without visiting the scene of the incident, Auno.

Buhari had headed to Borno from Ethiopia where he attended the African Union summit.

The president who left the state around 4pm neither visited the scene of the attack nor hospitals where those who sustained injuries in the attack are being treated.

The president arrived at the Nigerian Air Force base in Maiduguri minutes before 1pm and was received by Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno; Babagana Monguno, national security adviser; and Sadiya Umar Farouk, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development.

From the air force base, the president moved to the palace of Abubakar Elkanemi, the shehu of Borno and from there to the presidential lodge of the government house, Maiduguri, for a brief refreshment after which he departed the state.

At the shehu’s palace, the president told the monarch that he was in Borno on transit to Abuja, to share the pains of the people following the incident in Auno and other attacks in the state.

Buhari said he wondered how Boko Haram survived up till now.

“As commander in chief, I campaigned both in 2015 and last year on three fundamental issues which include security; you cannot preside over an institution or a country if it is not secure. This is just common sense, everybody knows this even those that have not gone to school know this,” he said.

“This Boko Haram or whatever they are, cannot come up to Maiduguri or environs without the local leadership knowing because traditionally the local leadership is in charge of security in their own respective areas. So with my understanding of our culture, I wonder how Boko Haram survives up till now.

“We are working for you in this country. As commander in chief, I am dealing with the security institutions and I believe there is an improvement in security.

“I urged the people of the state to cooperate with with the law enforcement agencies and let us deny Boko Haram access to our loyal citizens and encourage displace people to go back to the land.”

The president also asked Nigerian youth to cooperate with the government to help them get a better future.

“If they don’t cooperate with the government, they are endangering their future. I am already 77, how many years do I expect under normal circumstances?” he said.

Urging Borno people to support the military, Buhari added that he is determined to do his best towards ending the insurgency.