14th June, 2015
Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno said the State Government had concluded plans to commence the reconstruction of communities destroyed by the insurgents to enable the inhabitants to return home.
Communities in 22 out of the 27 local government areas of the state were ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgents after years of attacks.
Shettima spoke to newsmen in Maiduguri on Saturday after his return from a foreign trip.
“The most important thing now is how we can reconstruct our communities and villages destroyed by Boko Haram so that our people can start going back home.
“We are going to use our meagre resources to start reconstruction of damaged communities, pending when the Federal Government will come in,” he said.
Shettima said that some communities with minimal damages had started returning.
“People have started going back to Damasak, people have started going back to Gwoza but we need the support of the Federal Government to rebuild and reconstruct the affected communities,” he said.
According to him, people from behind the hills in Gwoza cannot go back home because their communities have been completely wiped out, where are they going to stay.
“In the same vein, Bama has been completely destroyed; Baga and other communities have been completely destroyed.
“But for those with limited damages like Monguno and Damasak , they can gone back.
“But it is extremely impossible for the people of Bama to go back or the people of Baga,” the governor said.
He expressed optimism that the Federal Government would support the state towards rebuilding the structures. “We believe that in the coming months, the Federal Government will come to our aid,” Shettima said.
He said that lasting peace will soon return to the state, following the recent efforts by the Federal Government.
Shettima who accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari on a trip to the neighbouring Chad, Niger Republic and the G7 Summit in Germany, said that the meetings were fruitful.