In Search of Borno Residents
Michael Olugbode reports that the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, recently visited Diffa in Niger Republic, in search of Borno residents that have been displaced by Boko Haram insurgents
One of the greatest books, the Bible, describes the role of a good shepherd and by extension the role of a good leader. A good shepherd, according to the Bible, gives his life for the sheep. This biblical description is best fit for the role that the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima has been playing in the his state that is troubled by Boko Haram insurgency since he assumed office about four years ago.
The insurgents have continued to kill the people of Borno State in large number, until recently when the multinational taskforce began its operation in the state.
Shettima has been a good shepherd to such extent that his sheep, the citizens of Borno State, who have been frequently attacked by the Boko Haram insurgents continue to look up to him as a saviour.
Indeed, schools in the state have been converted to camps for internally displaced persons and students have had to stop learning. Also, housing estates have been built to accommodate thousands of people who have been rendered homeless by the insurgents.
In fact, every other issues demanding the attention of the governor had to be virtually put on hold to feed and accommodate the millions of people that have been displaced by insurgency in the state.
To be sure, many residents have fled Borno, including some leaders who should stand with the people. But Shettima has remained determined to die in defending his people and their common patrimony.
Really, Shettima continues to travel both within and outside the country to bring back the displaced residents of Borno to the safe haven of Maiduguri, where they are being cared for.
In one of such travels was a trip to Diffa Province of Niger Republic. It was a dangerous journey, but the governor made it.
With the need to bring back the fleeing residents of Borno on his mind, Shettima went on the tortuous journey to see to the safety of about 200,000 people who fled from Abadam, Mobbar, Kukawa and Monguno Local Government Areas in Borno State as a result of massive attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents that led to the takeover of Malamfatori, Damasak, Baga and Monguno.
Among those seen by the governor during his trip included, nursing mothers, elderly people, young men and women and thousands of children below the ages of ten who fled and took refuge in border towns of Bosso, Tumur, Kanchandi, Balanguwa, Shettimari, Kaulaha, Barwa, Chukujani, Yabi, Malamkauri, all in Diffa Province, which is the closest state of Niger Republic to Nigeria.
Some of the fleeing residents have spent four months in Niger Republic, following attacks on the villages they lived in, but home has always been on their minds.
Two months before his trip to Diffa, Shettima had ordered the evacuation of fleeing citizens from Chad and Cameroon back to Maiduguri, and this set of people have since been temporarily settled in some of the thirteen government controlled camps established in Maiduguri and managed by both Borno State and federal government emergency management agencies.
The governor, during his two-day working visit to Diffa, Niger Republic, went with a manageable convoy of the council chairmen and stakeholders from Abadam, Mobbar, Kukuwa and Monguno local government areas. They had to crisscross Damaturu, Banbangida, Bayamari and Gaidam before entering Mainosoruwa in Diffa Province of Niger Republic.
Shettima was received in Diffa by the governor of the state, Yacuba Usmana Gawo. They drove to a refugee camp in Gagamari, on the outskirts of Diffa town, where they met displaced persons, mostly from Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.
The displaced persons who went on a wild jubilation on sighting their governor and kinsmen were assured that their welfare would be improved.
Shettima thanked the Government of Niger Republic, especially the governor of Diffa for opening doors for Borno citizens to take refuge at a desperate time.
He said the government and the people of Borno State would forever remain indebted to the Government of Niger Republic for offering protection and support to citizens of Borno.
He informed the displaced persons that he was setting up a Task Force on Evaluation, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Insurgency Victims with the mandate of assessing damages and safety in all liberated territories and commencement of reconstruction works to ensure that basic necessities of live such as water, healthcare facilities, access to food and shelter are made available to the residents.
The governor announced to the happybut-traumatised citizens that all their four local government areas have been reclaimed by the multi-national troops. He announced a special welfare package for the displaced persons in cash, which he handed to camp officials in their presence.
On the second day, he drove with his convoy for about an hour, navigating through wheel dragging and safety threatening sand-dunes, across a thick desert to reach a camp located in Sayam, a border outskirt of Diffa town within the province. He along with stakeholders met displaced persons also from Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State. He gave assurances similar to the one he had given to the people he met earlier.
He presented medical equipment made of mostly anti-malaria drugs and mosquito net and they were received by officials at the camp which included the officials of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The governor then returned to Diffa town where he met with citizens of Abadam, Kukawa and Monguno Local Government Areas and gave them similar assurances and the willingness to get them back to Maiduguri pending the time their homelands will be safe.
The journey was full of upheavals, and at a point the governor’s vehicle was held back by the desert as his Sport Utility Vehicle, a Lexus jeep was trapped by highly concentrated sand-dunes while returning from Sayam to Diffa town.
Shettima had to trek to the location of six other trapped vehicles and insisted he was not leaving until all vehicles were helped out of the sand dunes. Security details and other aides were compelled to dig into the thick sand before pulling Governor Shettima’s vehicle out after thirty minutes of waiting under the sun before the journey could continue.
The humility and sense of service, reminiscent of a good shepherd, is what has been bringing joy to the people of the troubled state despite the persecution of the insurgents.
A refugee, Malam Aisami Kura said: “The visit of the governor has once again proved the earlier impression we had that he is a generous and kindhearted man, he is a leader that is generous, kind and peace-loving. He is alive to what his responsibilities are as a leader.
The leader of the refugees from Damasak town, Alhaji Mustapha Shettima who narrated how the insurgents attacked the area and forced thousands of residents to run to Niger Republic, said: “Our governor has been a gift at this time in the checkered history of our state, definitely they say there is a leader for every kind of occasion, Shettima has brought joy to us and he is surely a leader we desire for this time.”