The Yobe Peace and Development Movement (YPDM) says the state remains forever grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for eliminating Boko Haram terrorists from its territory.
YPDM made this known in a press conference on Thursday in Damaturu, the state capital to show gratitude to President Buhari on behalf of other natves.
Yobe was among the worst-hit states during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency between 2014 and 2015.
While hundreds lost their lives, many others were rendered homeless as the radical sect swept across communities in the northeast.
However, President Buhari’s emergence birthed a remarkable turnaround in Yobe and other states in the region.
Speaking on behalf of the group, YPDM’s coordinator, Alhaji Dunoma Goni said the entire Yobe State is happy with the president for liberating the state from the “shackles of insecurity, physical degradation and mental torment”.
It recalled when indigenes, including government officials lived like refugees in their state, scared to travel.
” President Muhammadu Buhari has done a lot for this country since he assumed office on May 29, 2015. Those of us from Yobe State and indeed the Northeast, have more reasons to be thankful to Mr. President because of the added benefit of the improvement on the security of our region,” Alhaji Goni said.
“We wish to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for liberating Yobe State from the shackles of insecurity, physical degradation and mental torment which the people of state have been suffering since 2009, when the violence that broke out in Maiduguri, Borno State, extended its ugly tentacles to Yobe State.
” Since then, life has been hell for our people as we were cut off from other parts of the country and put under the most dehumanizing conditions by the Boko Haram and later ISWAP terrorists.
” While staying at home was not an option as people could be attacked and killed at any time, tavelling by road for Yobe residents became a nightmare and an experience in which people say their last prayers for fear of the unknown, while those outside fear to travel this direction for same reasons as people could be stopped by terrorists and slaughtered.
“The situation was so terrible that indigenes of Yobe States including our elected Representatives and political leaders, could no longer travel to their states as they wished due to fear of being killed by terrorists.
” With proper coordination and mobilization of the security agencies, the current administration was able to halt the attacks. Communities in Yobe no longer fear for the next minute as the people have been made to experience peace and normacly while dispaced persons have since picked the pieces of their lives.
” Major towns in Yobe like Potiskum, Gashua, Geidam and the state capital, Damaturu, have been peaceful and cannot remember the last time it went through such terrible experiences.”
The group also hailed the military for supporting the President’s quest to improve security in the country with multiple operations that has destroyed scores of insurgents.
While acknowledging other feats, the group urged the Federal Government to lend a hand to its people who are in dire need of intervention to make life more meaningful for them.
“Schools, hospitals, and markets have been destroyed by the activities of the insurgents while meaningful projects like the building of roads, rural electricity and water, have been halted,” the statement added.
“They want not only to return to their farms but extend productivity to a level they can tap from the boost farmers from the other parts of the country are enjoying.
“There is also need for the constant presence of the security agencies in several ccommunitiesto nip any attempt at regrouping by the terrorists in the bud”.