Insurgency has left Borno with 49,311 widows, 49,917 orphans – Gov

The last 13 years of insurgency in Borno State have resulted into loss of thousands of lives and destruction of properties.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno said the violent activities of Boko Haram insurgents have left the state with 49,311 widows and 49,917 orphans.

Zulum, who spoke at the weekly briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team led by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Wednesday, in Abuja, said about 800 buildings have been destroyed by the terrorists.

“The insurgents have destroyed about 5,000 classrooms in Borno, about 800 municipal buildings have been destroyed, including local government secretariats, prisons, and traditional rulers’ buildings among others.

“Furthermore, they destroyed about 713 energy distribution lines and 1,600 water sources.

“In addition to that, we harvested about 49,311 widows and about 49,917 orphans. These are official figures,” he said.

The governor, however, admitted that there had been a gradual return of peace as a result of commitment and support from the federal government.

“In Borno today, the gradual return of peace and the much reduction of cases of insecurity in Borno and major parts of the North-East, have been attributed to the commitment and collaboration on the parts of the state and federal governments.

“One major reason why we have been succeeding in the North-East, particularly in Borno, was because there was never a time I requested to see the President and was denied access.

“This is something very important. Whenever I had serious security issues in Borno, as soon as I land in Abuja, within the next 10-15 minutes on arrival, I will be granted access to the president and this has contributed a lot in ensuring the gradual return of peace and stability to Borno State,” he said.

He also disclosed that a lot of resources had been ploughed into processes of restoring peace in the state.

“Significant amounts of resources had been injected into the implementation of the security strategies; financial, material, logistics and motivational,” he added.

He acknowledged that the state government had shown great commitment in the relocation of displaced persons, with farming activities now picking up.

Zulum lauded the federal government and her security agencies for playing a big role in the peace process as he said the natives had also contributed their own quota towards the restoration of peace, by volunteering intelligence.

“The first effort we made towards securing Borno was through intelligence sharing, which is very important.

“We considered the communities’ participation as very important and the community-driven approach of re-establishing peace in Borno has yielded positive results.

“We have our local intelligence, who normally provide feedback to the government and the military with a view to addressing the lingering insecurity in Borno,” he explained.

On the purported closure of some displaced persons camps in the state, the governor said reported cases of vices and criminal activities, led to that decision.

The governor, who revealed that 18 displaced communities had so far been resettled, expressed appreciation to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Customs Service, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and the North-East Development Commission, for coming to the aid of the state in various ways.

 TheStar