From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, said he needs about N20 billion to fix infrastructures damaged by the Boko Haram terrorist sect.
This is even as he said that majority of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state have been resettled except for about 3000 still residing in camps across the state, adding that all Local Government Areas previously captured by the Boko Haram sect have been liberated.
Gaidam spoke to State House corespondents at the Aso Rock after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Governor who said he was at the Presidential Villa to brief the President on other measures taken by the state to resettle some of the IDPs, disclosed that normalcy was gradually returning to the state, because the terrorists have been greatly decimated.
“Yobe State experienced the negative effects of insurgency for about two or three years, there were times when the Boko Haram terrorists occupied two of our Local Government areas of Gulani and Gujiba before they were liberated.
“As I speak, we have about 3,000 IDPs still in our camp.
“By our estimates, actually if the Federal Government spends anything from N10 to N20 billion the whole areas which was destroyed by Boko Haram will be reconstructed and people will go back to their homes and resume their normal lives.
“All the other people, except these 3000 have returned to their homes, that is part of the reason why I came here to advise Mr President on how best these people could be resettled.
“Because they need a kind of rehabilitation of their destroyed homes by Boko Haram, some need outright reconstruction of their homes especially those which were completely destroyed by the Boko Haram terrorists.
“So I came here to give Mr President a first hand information of things on ground there.
I briefed him of how much we were able to do to resettle those who have gone back home,and then what the Federal Government can do to the remaining ones,so that they can go back and settle fully in their homes and resume their normal business activities,” he said.
Gaidam described his visit as fruitful, saying, “Mr President responses were very positive, he appreciated my coming and he promised that he would look into all those issues I raised,” he said.
