Governor Kashim Shettima had temporarily relocated his office to Bama to personally supervise reconstruction works in the area

The Borno State Environmental Protection Agency, BOSEPA, has declared that Bama, one of the towns ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency, would be ready for re-occupation in two weeks.

Sole Administrator of the Agency, Nassir Surundi told newsmen on Saturday that massive clean-up and fumigation exercise was ongoing in the town which at the peak of the insurgency was referred to as Boko Haram’s “killing field”.

It was reported that the insurgents killed thousands of people in Bama, throwing their bodies into the Yedzaram River while both human and animal carcasses littered the streets.

The town was however reclaimed by the Nigerian military sometime in 2015.

Surundi said the exercise was directed by governor Kashim Shettima, who had relocated to Bama to personally supervise the ongoing reconstruction works.

He said 17 streets have so far been cleared of giant weeds while fumigation and other sanitation exercises were being carried out against snakes and other reptiles.

“We hope to clear 17 additional streets by tomorrow (Sunday) and I promise all of you that within the next two weeks Bama will wear a new look different from the bush and the debris you see around.

“Without us clearing the roads, workers wouldn’t have access to reconstruction sites while the town will continue to look like a war zone, we are committed to Governor Kashim Shettima’s mission of changing Bama from what the insurgents turned it into,” Surundi said.

He noted that the Agency has been well funded by the state government and equipped with specialized trucks and chemicals to fasttrack its work.

He also added similar clean-up exercises had been carried out in order parts of the state, including Dikwa, Magumeri, Konduga and some parts of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council.