ICC Note: Maiduguri, Nigeria represents the epicenter of such devastating persecution and has faced the brunt of Boko Haram terrorist attacks that the cleanup effort stands to be enormous. The World Bank estimates Boko Haram has caused nearly six billion dollsrd in damage. The militant Islamist terror group regularly engages in suicide bombing campaigns, kidnapping girls, and targeting Christians for murder and forced conversion.
5/10/16 Maiduguri, Nigeria (BBC) – In our series of letters from African journalists, Mannir Dan Ali, who edits Nigeria’s Daily Trust paper, considers the hard task of rebuilding lives and communities now that the worst of the Boko Haram insurgency seems to be over.
Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno State covers 92,890 sq km (35,865 sq miles) – an area bigger than Portugal.
It straddles the Lake Chad region bordering Cameroon, Chad and Niger and has been worst hit by the seven-year Islamist militant insurgency.
Its capital, Maiduguri, was at the epicentre of the conflict, and now hosts tens of thousands of people who have fled the fighting.
Borno seems to be taking the initiative in pushing ahead in efforts to rebuild lives – and has been given a boost with pledges of help from the government and international partners.
But it is a colossal task.
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