ICC Note: Nigeria’s military has been able to successfully recapture several towns that were controlled by Boko Haram in since their insurgency began in 2009. Boko Haram has been credited with deaths of at least 20,000 people, mostly Christians. Their effect has become so devastating that they have created a massive food crisis in northern Nigeria where children are the most vulnerable victims. Most farmers have been unable to plant crops for the last three years because of the landmines and continuous attacks. Additionally, the army has closed the market to provide security to their citizens and to also starve out Boko Haram. However, this tactic has compounded the food crisis.
08/26/2016, Nigeria (BBC News) – The largest town that Boko Haram ever controlled still lies in ruins, frozen in time nearly 18 months after Nigeria’s military recaptured it from the Islamist militants.
Bama’s streets are deserted and those people who are still in the area are camped out in the grounds of a hospital guarded by the army and in dire need of humanitarian aid.
Hundreds of buildings are burnt-out shells with no roofs. Downed power cables are strewn on the streets. The bush is reclaiming many of the abandoned homes.
Apart from the occasional military patrol, it is like a ghost town.
Close to the border crossing with Cameroon, Bama in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state was once a thriving commercial hub and home to 250,000 people. Boko Haram controlled the town for seven months before it was retaken by the Nigerian military in March 2015.
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