Our Boko Haram Hell- Rep Terab

How has the Boko Haram insurgency affected your
constitutency?
The experience is agonizing and one that is very
sad. It was never envisaged before now. These
things that our people used to see on the TV
happening in some parts of the world are all of a
sudden around us.
But beyond that our current situation is one where
schools no longer exist. Students cannot identify
themselves as students. Teachers cannot identify
themselves as teachers and cannot dare go to
where school locations are.
The existing structures have all been completely
burnt down. And our economic activities have been
brought down not just because there is sense of
insecurity but because specifically, market and
economic hubs have been targeted, burnt down,
peoples’ assets have been specifically targeted and
burnt down.
So, clearly, it makes people that have invested a lot
over a long period of time to be helpless. Now, food,
all of a sudden is becoming luxury because in the
last two years, farming activities have dropped
down drastically to less than 20 percent, and
knowing full well that the major preoccupation of the
entire people of that area is farming.
Over 90% of people last year could not even farm.
Those who were able to get to the farms to cultivate
were not allowed to harvest at the end of the day.
So, we are in the most critical stage of the crises.
The issues of hospitals and other services are
luxury. In any case, I think now issues of crime are
no longer reported because you can’t find a
standing police station that’s ready to listen to
complaints and take them up.
Every murder is considered a Bolo Haram case.
None is being investigated and none is receiving
attention. So, just imagine how dire our situation is.
It has come to its knees and that’s the reason why
we are crying out that anything beyond this is
anarchy on its own.
People are losing, have lost and may never have
confidence in government again. Of course, there is
growing migration out of our areas to other areas,
the neighboring ones and even far places.
How many casualties would you say that your
constituency has recorded?
Within my constituency alone, we are already rolling
into thousands, only within my constituency of 3
local governments, but of course, if we are talking
about the neigbouring local governments and the
whole of the state, between the beginning of the
crisis and now, I think we are running into hundreds
of thousands.
That’s the fact of the matter. Of course, we know
that everything that is being reported even in the
media is not the actual figure and we do not have
such proper measures that will take the proper
account of casualties and those who die in the
hospitals afterwards due to the same crisis.
The fact of the matter is that millions of lives are
being threatened now, first by hunger, second
economy and third by the act of terror itself. You
can see that the situation is in dire need of a drastic
action.
To what extent has the state of emergency
declared by the Federal Government helped?
Let me be frank with you. We can not laugh about
corruption, joke or celebrate it. This affects the
pronouncement of the declaration of the state of
emergency. What did we do afterwards? We just
stopped at the declaration.
We declared and we think that by magic, declaration
will solve the problem. Declaration requires some
basic ingredients, commitment. As a matter of fact,
declaration of emergency in any situation means
suspension of everything other thing and then
tackling that particular thing.
If you declare emergency in education, it means
you are suspending every other thing to put all of
your resources, manpower, energy and time on that
issue so that it is tackled before you now reverse
back to other things.
We have to appreciate the meaning and context of
declaration of state of emergency. We have
declared state of emergency in security but we are
still busy flying about, celebrating, looking at other
things. So, it does not actually capture the essence
of the declaration. We have not as a nation
appreciated the extent of this crisis.
Are you saying that the