President Goodluck Jonathan has made a surprise visit to the heartland of the
Boko Haram movement to meet survivors of the massacre which saw an estimated 2000 people slaughtered by Islamist militants. Mr President reportedly spent 3 hours in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, and addressed 5,000 people who have been sheltering in a camp since the attack by the terror group earlier this month.
The president's visit comes just a day after new images obtained by
Amnesty International show the devastation of the assault - with more than 3,700 structures including houses and schools completely destroyed in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga.
During his visit to the camp, Mr Jonathan promised that all areas of Nigeria under the control of Boko Haram would be recaptured soon. He told the crowd of displaced people:
'I want to assure you that you will soon go back to your houses.'
“Terrorism and insurgency have been very traumatic for all of us. I feel particularly disturbed when I hear of our people being displaced within their own country. I assure you and other displaced persons that Government is working very hard to ensure that you do not remain in these camps for too long.
“I know that many of your houses have been destroyed. We will assist you financially so that you can rebuild your homes and return to them gradually,” President Jonathan told the displaced persons.
The president's visit to Maiduguri - his first since March 2013 - was shrouded in secrecy and came after a previous trip to the region in May last year was cancelled at the last minute.
Photo credit: AFP / Getty Images / Reuben Abati on twitter
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