Nigerian trade hub ghost town after Boko Haram rule
THE houses are burnt-out shells, and charred cars and petrol pumps line the roads in the oncebustling Nigerian trade hub of Bama after it was razed by Boko Haram jihadists.
As the second-biggest town in northern Borno State, Bama was home to about 270 000 residents and a major trading post on the road to Cameroon. But now 85% of it is destroyed. Teacher Mustapha Mallam, who like tens of thousands of others lost everything when he had to flee his home after Boko Haram took over in September last year, said: “Bama is no more.”
The fighters burnt everything before being evicted by the Nigerian army in March, he said.
When the soldiers entered the city, they found corpses and spent cartridges strewn across the streets.
The only signs of life here now are a handful of soldiers and workers who are trying to repair Bama’s main avenue.
The bush, meanwhile, is reclaiming many of the abandoned homes in the once lush town, just 70km from the state capital, Maiduguri.
Ali Mbusube, who heads a camp for displaced people on the fringes of the town, said that during the seven months of Boko Haram rule, Bama was hell on earth.
“There was no food, no school, not even a hospital – and if you stole something they would cut off your hand,” he said.
The camp houses a little more than 10 000 people who either escaped or survived the reign of terror.
“During the day, they [would] bring all the men aged over 18 into the prison and kill them,” Mbusube said.
Mallam said he found nothing but ash when he returned to Bama the first time.
Maiduguri has been at the epicentre of Boko Haram’s sevenyear insurgency that has left at least 20 000 people dead in Nigeria and border areas of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
A further 2.6 million have been left homeless.
A sustained counter-offensive has seen the military retake swathes of territory from the insurgents, but the jihadist group still poses a security threat to civilians.
Bama’s main hospital is also in ruins and now serves as a playground for children living in the nearby camp for the displaced.
Before they left, the invaders stripped Bama bare.
The devastation across Borno State – the area worst hit by the insurgency – is equally alarming.
In March, the World Bank put the cost of the destruction at $5.9billion (R82-billion).
Nearly a million homes, or 30% of the total, have been destroyed along with 500 primary schools, nearly 40 high schools as well as 200 hospitals and health centres.
Borno State governor Kashim Shettima called repairing the destruction a herculean challenge. – AFP