Shettima to rebuild churches destroyed by Boko Haram in Lassa, Borno

Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno has promised to
rebuild churches and other structures destroyed
by the Boko Haram insurgents in Lassa as he
visited liberated communities in the Southern
Senatorial Zone of the state.

“We will rebuild churches, private and public
buildings destroyed by the insurgents,” Shettima
said when he accessed the level of damage in
Lassa in Askira-Uba Local Government Area on
Wednesday.

He expressed shock at the magnitude of
destruction, saying that government would
commence the rehabilitation in a short while.

“We are going to rebuild churches and others
structures destroyed in Lassa and other
communities around.

“We are saddened by the large scale destruction
in Lassa which is a predominantly Christian
community, ” Shettima said.
He added:” We are doing this because we have a
duty as a government to ensure fairness, equity
and justice in all our endeavors.

“We believe that the Christian community has
rights to be served like its Muslims counterpart,
since we have rebuilt Mosques destroyed in
other places, we must rebuild churches too.”

Shettima said specifically that the churches
would be rebuilt before Christmas ahead of this
year’s Yuletide.

“I want to assure that the churches will be rebuilt
before December, so that the people can
celebrate the Christmas in a more conducive
atmosphere.

“We will also make sure that all private houses
destroyed are rebuild without delay,” he said,
adding that his action had no political under
tone.

“We are not doing this for political reasons
because we are not facing any election now. Our
actions are based on the desire to serve people
and to ensure equity among them.”

He also visited the Emir of Uba, Alhaji Ali Mamza
and the Emir of Askira Alhaji Abdullahi Askirama,
where he pledged to rebuild the Askira-Uba
Local Government Area secretariat and other
structures damaged by the insurgents.

Shettima was also in Gwoza, headquarters of
Gwoza Local Government Area where he
promised to rebuild the palace of the Emir of
Gwoza Alhaji Muhammad Timta.

“The Emir of Gwoza wants to return home but
for his palace which is badly damaged. We will
rebuild the palace in the next one month so he
can come back, ” he said when he addressed
elders of Gwoza in front of the damaged palace.

Shettima also visited Pulka, where he addressed
hundreds of residents who had returned home,
and promised to tackle the problem of water
shortages facing the people.

“I want to pledge here that we are going to take
immediate action to tackle the problem of water
shortage facing the people. We shall put in place
the necessarily mechanism to address the
problem immediately I return back to
Maiduguri.”

He lauded the military for liberating the area
from the Boko Haram insurgents, and promised
enhance welfare for the people.

“ We have to commend the gallantry effort of
the military in ensuring that peace return to our
communities.

“We must continue to support them to ensure
that the peace is maintained, people should give
them 100 percent cooperation and report
strange happenings to them,” he said.

Shettima distributed food items worth millions
of Naira to the people before proceeding to the
next community.

NAN recalls that the governor relocated to Bama
last week to supervise the ongoing
reconstruction of damaged structures in the
area.