Damaturu: The nightmare is over

At the height of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2014, Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, normally a bustling city, on the Jos/Kano-Maiduguri route became virtually ghost-like due to the onslaught of the Boko Haram insurgents. I was constantly shuttling on that road from Abuja visiting family and relations in Maiduguri since moving to Abuja at the turn of the millennium, to live and work there.

The hazards I encountered on the road were few and occurred infrequently in between the cities along the route and were mostly located around the crises areas in the Jos metropolis. We were therefore hardly prepared for the persistent, unwholesome brutality perpetrated by Boko Haram elements on the communities in most of the northeastern states in the later years and the fact that it went on for a considerable length of time made it more unbearable.

As I promised on this page last week, I was in Damaturu during the week to acquaint myself with the progress made in winning the peace after the Boko Haram insurgents were finally routed out of the State in 2015. For me it was a reunion of sorts with many civil servants with whom we shared offices in Maiduguri before Yobe State was created in 1991 from the ribs of old Borno State. I received a warm welcome from my colleagues who took me around places I was interested to see and also did not hesitate to air their views on their state of affairs.

To start with Damaturu today is a complete transformation to what it was in the dark days when the insurgents held sway over the city. I recall that by 2013 when the insurgents were rampaging almost unchallenged all over neighbouring Borno and much of Adamawa States, Yobe was also not spared. Some twelve out of its seventeen local governments were affected. In the very long run Gulani and Gujba local government areas were effectively occupied by the Boko Haram brigands who had even the temerity to hoist their ragtag flags on government buildings.

Damaturu the seat of government was singled out for special attention by the brutal insurgents. There were frequent attacks and bombings of markets, schools, police stations, mosques, churches, health facilities and various properties owned by individuals. The attacks on schools were particularly gruesome and unforgettable. In one particular case of brutality a school dormitory was locked by the insurgents with the students inside and set on fire. Twentynine students perished in that most callous act of the insurgents. I learnt that a total of 128 students died in the hands of insurgents across a number of schools in Mamudo, Buni Yadi, Gujba, Potiskum and Damaturu.

The most audacious raid of the insurgents was the one they undertook in December 2004 when they attempted to capture Damaturu itself by trying to penetrate the Government House, dislodge the Governor and staff, and hoist their infamous flag in the premises. It would go down in the annals as one of the most successful decisive battles that saw full cooperation by both the ground troops and their counterparts in the air force to harmoniously work together and chase away the marauding attackers who were already hovering in the precincts of the Government House.

Driving through Damaturu in those dark days was like travelling through any beleaguered wartorn city. I have twice been in the entourage of Borno State Governor in the late 1980s to visit war ravaged Ndjamena, capital of Chad Republic which bore close similarity with what became of Damaturu recently. As in Ndjamena in the 1980s, you could only see gloom and doom written on the faces of Damaturu citizens milling around their bombed and burnt markets, residences and public buildings. Perhaps the one building that struck me as a monument against the insurgents is the glassy green coloured storey building prominently on Potiskum-Damaturu road. The building which is the headquarters of Pilgrims Affairs was thrice bombed and burnt by the insurgents and tenaciously rebuilt by the Government just as many times.

In any case Damaturu today is completely a different city that has sprouted out of the ashes of the scorched-earth rampage of the insurgents. At the height of the insurgency movement was difficult within Damaturu due to the numerous checkpoints by occupying security forces. The checkpoints have now disappeared. The remaining checkpoints now perform perfunctory functions and are friendly, and one could drive through the city in less than an hour even at peak hours of the day. What was even more remarkable is the fact that the large number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that besieged the city at the height of the insurgency had been decamped to their towns and villages.

I visited the only remaining IDP camp at the Pompomari Primary School where only a fraction of them are left. I met mostly women and children in the camp. I interacted with the officials running the camp and saw the clinic as well as a school for the children. The IDPs look well-fed and hopeful that they would return to their villages soon. I went around the city to see public buildings that were destroyed during the insurgency but have now been rebuilt and were functioning again.

No doubt Boko Harm insurgency has costed Yobe State untold human suffering as well as unquantifiable sums in terms of destruction of both private and government properties. From a document I saw, the cost of government intervention as a result of the incessant attacks on the people and their properties between 2011 and 2016 is over N15 billion. This includes funds expended in support of security agencies, as well as funds for reconstruction of public structures and what was spent on relief and medical assistance to the victim.

There is good evidence on the grounds to show that the war on the insurgents in Yobe State territory has been won for good. Winning the war is not just the business of the armed forces, however important that is. One of the most difficult sides of winning the war was to ensure quick return to normality to the lives of the people in the territory. This is where most citizens I interacted with give kudos to their government, for ensuring speedy return to normality in the state. All activities in the local government areas directly affected by the insurgency have returned to normal life. Even Gujba and Gulani local governments that were occupied by the brigands are fully functioning and most of the citizens have now returned to their homes.

I marvelled at the quick return of IDPs to their homes and the fact that all the roads from the state capital to the hinterland have long been opened for us by commuters. There was also large amount of public works going on to rehabilitate and/or open up new roads as well as buildings going on in health and education sector. I visited the new teaching hospital that is being built in Damaturu for the use of Yobe University. It is almost completed and I learnt is being equipped with the most up to date equipment. I broached the subject with a colleague, of where the government was finding the funds to undertake what is obviously a herculean task when other state governments were complaining. He intimated to me that it could be due to purposeful leadership and focus on what was clearly needed to be done, as well as prudence in the use of public resources. He pointed out to me that despite the stupendous financial outlay that was needed to overcome the problems in the aftermath of the insurgency, Yobe State stood out as one of the few states in the federation that had always paid salaries and pension as and when due.