No fewer than 800 Chibok youths have in
the last six weeks fled their homes and ran to Lagos, Kano, Abuja and
other cities to evade attack by the violent Boko Haram sect.
Places
affected in the Chibok area include Kwada, Ntsiha (A and B), Kwarnglum
District, Kwaple village, Kautikari, Kaumutayahi, Chibok main town,
Shawa, Tsilari and Nguradina.
The
Director of Publicity, Kibaku Area Development Association, Dr. Manasseh
Allen, who stated this in a telephone interview on Thursday in Abuja,
explained that the fleeing youths were taking up menial jobs in Lagos,
Abuja and other places to eke out a living.
Allen,
who returned from Chibok last Monday, however, said that there was
relative security in the town following the deployment of a detachment
of soldiers and policemen.
He said
that nearly all the Chibok Local Government Area workers had also fled
for fear of being attacked by the Boko Haram terrorists.
Allen said, “Many of them have relocated to Damboa which is under the protection of the military.
“I
went to Chibok last Friday and came back on Monday; my parents are
still there, I have persuaded them to leave, but they refused. I have
just received a list of 800 youths who have fled Chibok because of
constant Boko Haram abductions. Some of them have fled to Lagos where
they are doing menial jobs. They abandoned their homes, families, farms
and businesses because the area is not safe.
“Even
after the abduction of the schoolgirls, many people did not leave, but
the moment the Boko Haram insurgents started attacking the surrounding
villages, the residents started fleeing.”
Allen,
however, disclosed that many of the Chibok residents who have yet to
flee now depend on goodwill and assistance from churches for survival.
He
said, “Apart from those that have farms adjoining their houses,
majority of the people cannot go to their farms and those that were
displaced at the outset of the raining season, did not plant anything
and they are facing food crisis.”