Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has estimated losses suffered by the northeast as a result of terrorism at about $6.9 billion.
He said the losses included over 5000 classrooms destroyed, 900,000 homes burnt beyond repairs, 713 energy distribution sources damaged, as well as 1600 public water sources destroyed.
Zulum gave this account on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents on plans by the Presidential Committee on Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the North East of Nigeria.
The governor reiterated his advice to the Federal Government to engage the services of mercenaries to put terrorism under checks once and for all, adding that ISWAP was fast gaining ground in the northeast and on the fringes of Lake Chad.
According to him, the negative consequences suffered from Boko Haram will be nothing compared to what ISWAP will unleash if allowed to grow.
He said one of the reasons his administration is bent on relocating the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) back to their ancestral homes is because the camps are becoming a fertile ground for the recruitment of foot soldiers for ISWAP.
On why he was in the habit of putting himself in harm’s way to fight terrorism in his state, he said he was not afraid to die, as long as it was not the will of God.
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