By Olarewaju Kola
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
Dozens of parents and children displaced from their homes following Boko Haram attacks on communities in Nigeria's northeast Borno State are unsure they need the special school promised by the state government, adding that their major concern is to see government defeat the insurgents and for them to be reunited with their missing relations.
"The government special school is not my problem now," said Mohammad Alhaji, a 43-year-old resident of Bama who fled to Maiduguri, the heavily-populated provincial capital, after Boko Haram attacks on their serene town.
"My father, mother, wife and four children are still missing," he told Anadolu Agency, angrily.
"Somebody told me the insurgents have killed my father but I don't believe it. I need to go back to Bama again to see if this is true," said Alhaji.
"Government should do something about our missing relations. This is my concern now," he asserted.
Borno Governor Kashim Shettima had announced the establishment of a special school for thousands of children displaced from various communities and camped at designated internally displaced persons (IDPs) centers in Maiduguri and other towns.
A senior state government official, who did not want to be named, said they have already commenced the process of establishing the special school.
"Dislocation of some residents in the rural communities will affect the education of their children except such special arrangement is out in place," he told AA.
More than 27,000 people have been displaced from Gwoza, about 135kms southeast of Maiduguri; Bama about 78kms; and Damboa about 85kms in the southwestern part of the state.
Boko Haram militants have already overrun the towns of Dikwa, Gamboru Ngala, Gwoza and Bama in neighboring Borno State.
Maiduguri, the state's most populous city, appears to be the militants' primary objective.
Boko Haram also now controls Buni Yadi and Bara in the neighboring Yobe State.
The group is also said to have captured eight towns in Adamawa State, which has a population of some 2.5 million.
Boko Haram's elusive leader, Abubakar Shekau, recently declared all territories under the group's control to be part of an "Islamic caliphate" in northern Nigeria.
Since May of last year, all three states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa – have remained in a state of emergency imposed by the government with the stated aim of curbing the Boko Haram menace.
-Security First-
Alhaji said that though he and other displaced persons have been receiving good food prepared by government officials since their arrival at the IDPs camp, life without his parents, wife and children is incomplete.
For Adamu Mustapha Musa, 50, nothing could gladden his heart than the return of peace to the insurgency-ravaged northeast state and discovery of his missing 12 children.
"Even if government creates special schools for displaced persons, where will I see my children to attend such school," he lamented.
"Twelve of my children, seven boys and five girls, have been lost since the day Boko Haram attacked Bama (September 1)," he told AA in tears.
Musa recalled how he fled into the military barrack with his family amidst sporadic gunshots by the insurgents and military attempts to repel them.
"The confusion that followed the gunshots and arrival of military jets forced many of us out of the barrack and that was where I lost my 12 children," he added.
"I trekked to Maiduguri having spent five days in the bush without water or food," added the 50-year-old man.
Abram Yakubu, 13, says he wants to return to their communities in Gwoza and is not keen at attending school in the Maiduguri.
"I like my village in Gwoza local government but Boko Haram has destroyed the place now with our school," said Yakubu.
"Government should end this problem so that we can go back home. I am tired of staying in the city because life here is different," he added.
One victim who would not comment on the government planned special school is Aisha Umara, 34.
She says Boko Haram has shattered her life.
"It is like I'm in the dark now," she told AA after several attempts to get her reaction.
"Staying here at this camp is not even my priority now. I'm still looking for my husband and two children," added a reluctant Umara.
"Don't even know whether or not they are alive and you're asking me about government special school for children of displaced persons," she fumed.
"Let government end Boko Haram first," Umara insisted.
But Musa Bukar, who has been out of school for almost a year after his school was destroyed, disagrees.
He says the special schools will return children like him back to academic activities.
"I believe it will help me and others in my situation," Bukar told AA.
"I am an orphan. My parents were killed last year along Bama-Gwoza road," he recalled.
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