B/Haram: Humanitarian situation in liberated areas still critical – Gaidam

The Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam has said there is need for urgent intervention from the United Nations and other stakeholders to address humanitarian situation which he said has remained critical in the Boko Haram liberatedcommunities.The governor who spoke yesterday when he received United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for West Africa, Mr. Toby Lancer, in Damaturu, said the magnitude of destruction caused to private and public structures and means of livelihood was enormous, hence the need for collective support.Gaidam who was represented by his deputy, Engr Abubakar D Aliyu, said the six-year experience of Boko Haram insurgency had affected 12 out of 17local government areas of the state, saying that large numbers of public and private structures were destroyed and thousands of lives taken.He said the state had suffered the largest school-based casualties with 128 students killed in four schools while there were 309,609 registered IDPsconstituting 14% of the estimated 2.1 million population of the state.The insurgency, the governor also said, led to “thedestruction of private property and assets, assorted vehicles and livestock, among several others, with a projected expenditure for reconstruction of both public and private structures estimated at over N30 billio