As the search for the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14 continues, residents of Chibok, a remote community in Borno State where the atrocity took place, have cried out to the government to help develop the area.
The indigenes of the area, who have since been thrown into mourning following the latest onslaught by the dreaded sect, said the lack of functional access road, potable water and other basic social amenities was making life unbearable for them.
According to the 2006 population census, Chibok Local Government Area has a population of around 66, 105 people spread across about 1,350km. Even though the population has since surpassed that figure, there is no asphalted road across the entire local council area.
“It has always been like this since 1970’s when I started to ply this route,” a man who claims to be a civil servant said.
In 2013, the Borno State Government included Mbala-Chibok-Damboa Road among the 2,500km roads that will link 33 towns in the state.
The government’s ‘comprehensive master plan’ for rural roads was to cost N36bn. But despite the plan, connecting other parts of the state continues to be a tall order, a situation the people of Chibok are now calling on the government to urgently address.
Government Secondary School, where the girls were kidnapped last month, was formerly known as Women Teachers College.
Against widespread knowledge, the school accommodates both male and female students. In 2011, following the difficulties boys encountered going to school in distant towns, the Borno State Ministry of Education upgraded the school to a mixed institution, where both sexes could study side by side.
It is the only secondary school in the whole of Chibok Local Government but largely incapable of addressing the academic needs on ground.
Apart from the road, security and educational concerns, the people of the area now want the government to provide them with good hospitals, improved electricity supply, clean, and potable water amongst others. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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