FLEEING residents of Bama in Borno State have vowed to continue to sleep on streets in Maiduguri, the state capital, instead of returning home.
Most residents of the town were forced to flee their homes on Monday, when the Boko Haram sect stormed the town at about 5.00 a.m.
The residents, despite pleas from the state government to return home, insisted they would continue to sleep on streets in Maiduguri, which, they said was safer.
The locals, who were at the main road, along Bama road in Maiduguri, the state capital, told the Nigerian Tribune on Wednesday that they were safer in the streets of Maiduguri than in the comfort of their homes in Bama.
A resident, simply called Malam Kolomi, told the Nigerian Tribune during a visit to the camp that all of them knew why they fled their homes, adding that they did not want to go back.
“Everybody has a home and there is no place of comfort as home.
“Government has brought new school buses to convey us back home, some of us have agreed, but those of us who know the antecedent of the Boko Haram are saying it is too early to return home.
“If one is not a mad man, home is better than this situation we found ourselves, but the government has no knowledge of reasonsn we are refusing to go back home now,” he said.
Kolomi, who spoke in Hausa, also said “I ran from Bama to Konduga and, at 62, I am not supposed to have gone that much under normal circumstance, but for the fear of being slaughtered by those evil men.
“If all will go, I will remain here until normalcy returns, until our people are certain that we are not going into another danger,” he said.
Many of the locals also insisted that they were not ready to return home until they were assured of their safety. According to them, the deputy governor did not go to Bama, but was depending on reports from the security, which, to them, may not be the truth.
“The brave ones, who are saying all is well and that the insurgents have been chased away, should go first, then we will follow,” they said..
Most residents of the town were forced to flee their homes on Monday, when the Boko Haram sect stormed the town at about 5.00 a.m.
The residents, despite pleas from the state government to return home, insisted they would continue to sleep on streets in Maiduguri, which, they said was safer.
The locals, who were at the main road, along Bama road in Maiduguri, the state capital, told the Nigerian Tribune on Wednesday that they were safer in the streets of Maiduguri than in the comfort of their homes in Bama.
A resident, simply called Malam Kolomi, told the Nigerian Tribune during a visit to the camp that all of them knew why they fled their homes, adding that they did not want to go back.
“Everybody has a home and there is no place of comfort as home.
“Government has brought new school buses to convey us back home, some of us have agreed, but those of us who know the antecedent of the Boko Haram are saying it is too early to return home.
“If one is not a mad man, home is better than this situation we found ourselves, but the government has no knowledge of reasonsn we are refusing to go back home now,” he said.
Kolomi, who spoke in Hausa, also said “I ran from Bama to Konduga and, at 62, I am not supposed to have gone that much under normal circumstance, but for the fear of being slaughtered by those evil men.
“If all will go, I will remain here until normalcy returns, until our people are certain that we are not going into another danger,” he said.
Many of the locals also insisted that they were not ready to return home until they were assured of their safety. According to them, the deputy governor did not go to Bama, but was depending on reports from the security, which, to them, may not be the truth.
“The brave ones, who are saying all is well and that the insurgents have been chased away, should go first, then we will follow,” they said..
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