Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima on Saturday visited newly liberated commercial town of Damasak in the Northern axis of the state to assess level of harm inflicted on the town by Boko Haram insurgents and was received by the Army Commander in charge of the Damasak Battalion.
First and foremost, Gov. Shettima visited the Battalion headquarters in Damasak to address officers and men of the Battalion and he said "We are here to fundamentally thank you the officers and men of the Nigerian army for the sacrifice you made. We cannot thank you enough for the giant strides you have recorded in recapturing Damasak.
"Damasak has a lot of historical and as well as economic significances. This part of the state is the economic life-wire of Northern Borno. Even in terms of affluence, the people of Mobbar are much more affluent than other people in the area.
"In the next couple of days we are going to sent a team from the ministry of water resources to come and address your water challenges. We will mobilize resources for you to build trenches in and around your area to safeguard lives and properties. Through ministry of RRR, we are supporting you with a truck of cement to repair potholes along the highway because while I was coming, I have seen your efforts in that regard.
"We are going to replicate our experience in Bama and employ Civilian JTF, vigilantes, hunters and others to give you all the necessary support. The Police Commissioner is here with us, he gave us 300 officers in Bama and I believe he will give us up to 1000 officers to argument your effort," said Shettima.
In his welcome address, the Commander of 145 Battalion Lt. Col Mustapha Jimoh briefed the governor on the successes recorded by the Batallion.
"This unit begin its operation to liberate this community from Boko Haram on 26 July 2016 and we recapture Damasak 30 July, 2016. Already, we conducted a clearing operation and 27 communities are cleared and occupied by people. From here to Dushi has been cleared and also from here to Gudumbali is cleared," said Jimoh.
Gov. Shettima also took time to address some displaced persons brought in from neighboring towns and villages in different parts of Niger Republic where they are presently residing as Refugees.
Shettima said: "We welcome our people who came from Dushi, Bosso, Gangamari, Shettimari, Kayamari and Diffa. You all saw how Damasak was destroyed but i will promise you one thing. Whether we have money or not by the grace of God we will build your town.
"The Army told me that no single attack was launched in this area in last 3 months or thereabout. So there is no reason why you should not come back home. And tomorrow, I am travelling to Abuja to meet with military hierarchy to discuss modalities of your return to this town. And on Thursday or Friday, we will meet with your local government stakeholders to discuss your welfare, recruitment into Civilian JTF and the process of reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of our people.
"We have agricultural arsenal to fight poverty and because you are hardworking farmers, fishermen and businessmen we know you are going to utilize it to create wealth for yourselves but we have to prepare very well before we start work here because your town was destroyed by more than 80 percent.
"President Buhari loves Borno so much and he is willing to assist us in reconstructing our destroy communities but we have to start somewhere before we receive help anywhere.
Mallam Kachalla Kaka who spoke on behalf of IDPs said "though UNICEF is providing us with food but we are still facing difficulties in our places of stay in Niger Republic and we want the government to immediately evacuate us back to Damasak so that we could engage in dry season farming. If this is done, we would recover within 2 to 3 months."
Gov. Shettima was accompanied to the visit by Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Hon. Mallam Bukar Kareto, GOC 8 Div. Brig. Gen. M. Nani, Police Commissioner Demian Chukwu, State Director of DSS, members of the Borno state Executive Council and members of the Borno state House of Assembly.
Feel Free To Comments Here...
No comments:
Post a Comment