The Federal Government is mapping out ways to deploy civil authorities to liberated communities in northeast Nigeria.
Ahead of the planned deployment, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, is leading the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase and the Heads of all paramilitary forces on an assessment tour of affected states.
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, is the first to host the team.
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe are the most affected states in the over six years insurgency carried out by the outlawed Boko Haram terrorists attempting to establish an Islamic State and end Western education in the region.
Borno State has, however, lost more territories than its sister states with the bandits sacking locals from 20 out of the 27 local councils in the state.
The result is the displacement of nearly two million persons, with many forced to live in makeshift camps within Maiduguri, the capital city.
The Nigerian Armed Forces said troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole had recaptured all lost territories. A mandate of December had been given to the military by President Muhammadu Buhari to end the activities of Boko Haram in the region.
The Minister of Interior’s mission in the state is to liaise with relevant stakeholders and obtain first-hand information on the state of affairs with a view to deploying civil authorities to the liberated towns.
The state government believes that the deployment of civil authorities in abandoned towns would complement the efforts of the Nigerian Army.
The Shehu of Borno, custodian of traditional institution in the state also shared his opinion over plans to open up abandoned communities for civilian habitation.
The team has also been interacting with the internally displaced and inspecting facilities and personnel on ground.
Issues of poor welfare and incentives are some of the concerns the personnel on ground are not excited about, as deployment to the ghost towns stares them in the face.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Yusuf Buratai, said the Nigerian Army was planning to create two new divisions.
He said that the two divisions would be Division 8 in the northeast and Division 6 in the south-south to boost security in the regions.
