Almost 90% of the thousands of residents of Damasak, who fled the town after repeated attacks by insurgents – suspected of being members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS) – have returned home.

The town was attacked for three consecutive days on April 12, 13 and 14, with the insurgents targeting humanitarian compounds and stocks, including those of the Norwegian Refugee Council and Action Against Hunger.

The attacks resulted in an unprecedented level of destruction.

According to Reliefweb, an estimated 65,000 people from Damasak fled. Thousands of families and elderly people, largely dependent on humanitarian aid, had been forced to cross the Yobe River towards Niger for safety.

Others fled to Maiduguri.

Non-governmental organisation staff managed to hide and escape the town, but their private houses were set alight after house-to-house searches.

Damasak was left virtually deserted.

On an attempted peace-building mission, Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno State, visited Damasak two days after the attacks. He was accompanied by a powerful security force that included police, soldiers, vigilantes and civilian joint task force members.

He spent two nights in the town, assessing the damages and devastation caused by the insurgents.

He confirmed that 18 people had been killed and one wounded.

“The governor held an operational meeting with soldiers and other security forces after which he presented 12 security vehicles, which include an armoured personnel carrier and 11 patrol vehicles, to strengthen armed forces and volunteers made up of trained youth in the civilian joint task force, hunters and vigilantes helping in the fight against insurgents,” his special adviser on media and strategy, Isa Gusau, told Premium Times.

His visit had encouraged thousands of residents to return to Damasak, Gusau said.

Muhammed Alhaji Ali, a councillor of Damasak Central, welcomed the residents home.

He confirmed that most essential items were again available in the town.

However, he said, farmers in the region had experienced a major downfall in sales which left them feeling insecure because it was their only source of livelihood. Many farms had been destroyed in the attack.

Residents in the town and in the villages surrounding it were also said to be feeling insecure and vulnerable.

Fear of further attacks had prevented traders from nearby villages going to Damasak to sell or buy foodstuff and other items.

Ali said the government at all levels needed to take action to secure the town and enable civilians to resume normal activities and business in Damasak, which he described as being “crippled by insecurity”.