FACT ABOUT SAMBISA FOREST: BOKO HARAM ABODE IN BORNO STATE''THE HOME OF PEACE''

Borno State is a state in north-eastern Nigeria. Its capital is Maiduguri. The state was formed in 1976 from the split of the North-Eastern State. The state is dominated by the Kanuri and Babur while few Shuwa Arab[citation needed]ethnic groups are found. According to historian, Shuwa Arabs are mainly the descendants of Arabized  Fulani people.

The state lying within latitude 100N to 130N and longitude 11.040E and 14.040E, has an area of 69,435 SQ KM and is the largest State in the Federation in terms of land mass. Located in the North Eastern corner of Nigeria, the State occupies the greatest part of the Chad Basin and shares borders with the Republics of Niger to the North, Chad to the North-East and Cameroun to the East.

Borno State is divided into 27 Local Government Areas, grouped into three Senatorial Districts:That is: Borno Central Senatorial District: is made up of the following Local Government Areas:- MMC, Ngala, Kala/Balge, Mafa, Konduga, Bama, Jere and DIkwa; Borno South Senatorial District: is made up of the following Local Government Areas Askira Uba, Bayo, Biu, Chibok, Damboa, Gwoza, Hawul, Kwaya Kusar and Shani and Borno North Senatorial District: is made up of the following Local Government Areas Abadam, Gubio, Guzamala, Kaga, Kukawa, Magumeri, MArte, Mobbar, Monguno and Nganzai

 In addition to the Senatorial structure above,there are 7 Emirate Councils in the State as follows:-1. Borno Emirate2. Dikwa Emirate3. Biu Emirate4. Askira Emirate
5. Gwoza Emirate 6. Shani Emirate 7. Ubar Emirate.

“The Home of Peace” the acronym of Borno State ,well as the State is known for its peaceful and hospitable in the past, what about  the existence of Boko Haram, linked with kidnapping, raping, killing, bombing and genocide perpetrated by this group doing in the state?

The Borno state Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Tourism, the Ministry saddle with responsibility to  formulate and implementation of commercial, industrial and tourism laws and policies, and programmes of the state Government never made mention of Sambisa Forest Game Reserve, which once used to be tourist attraction in Borno State in their web page, instead they are fooling themselves by saying ‘’  Borno State being a gateway to North and Central Africa has a lot of potentials for tourism and we have made effort to completely rehabilitate the Maiduguri State Hotel to complete favourably with other Hotels in the State.’’

Sambisa Forest Reserve .a game reserve in colonial era, are located is in the north-eastern states of Borno,Yobe,Gombe,Bauchi,Jigawa and parts of Kano state in the far north,  It covers an area of approximately 60,000 square kilometres.

However, with the change in events in Nigeria,as of 2014 till date, it is now a no go area because its considered  a refuge of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Sambisa Forest Game Reserve, which once used to be tourist attraction in Borno State,was a game reserve that dates back to colonial era.  In 1991, the then Borno State government incorporated it into the Chad Basin National Park with a total area of about 2,258 square kilometres. This Chad Basin National Park also included the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands in modern day Yobe State 

The Sambisa Game Reserve was in the past had leopards, lions, elephants, hyenas and huts built for tourists to stay in. All these are now things of the past. As one writer put it ‘’in typical Naija style, we allowed the place to fall into a state of disrepair as the animals died, the roofs leaked, weeds covered the roads, water stopped flowing, there was no power and the whole reserve became another derelict white elephant’’

The Sambisa Game Reserve as of today is now the abode, headquarters, and command post of the dreaded Boko Haram from where it carries out murderous attacks on the rest of Nigeria 

What I do not really understand is the fact that with lot of Cartographers, Geographers, and Military tacticians, at our disposal in this country, Sambisa Game reserve is now place that cannot be located?

The worrisome of it is that there is no military presence in the area; the closest military presence is the Seventh Mechanised Division of the Nigerian army based in Maiduguri with approximately 9,000 men

Since our Police cannot police Nigerian any longer, and the State Security Service can no longer gathered intelligence reports, then what information would our military work on? It is thus no surprise that the victims of the 2014 Chibok kidnapping were taken into this forest by Boko Haram members because it has all the facilities to accommodate them.

 Can someone please tell us what is going on here? Ok o