The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, says the economic impact of Boko Haram activities in the North East is estimated at $9 billion (N274.5b).
Buratai, represented by Maj. Gen. Peter Dauke, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 division Lagos, made the assertion at the first annual conference of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCON) recently.
In the paper, titled ‘Counter- Insurgency and Role of the Nigerian Army in Creating Conducive Environment For Nigeria’s Economic Development’. Buratai said of the figure, Borno had the highest impact estimated at $5.9 billion (N180b).
He said that loss of agricultural production in the North East caused by Boko Haram activities was $3.5 billion (N107b).
The army chief said that Borno had 95 per cent of the 400,000 houses damaged by Boko Haram.
According to him, the restructuring of the army’s operations in the zone in 2015 yielded fruitful results.
He stated that with improved security, the Borno Adamawa and Yobe governments had embarked on reconstruction of damaged schools, bridges, hospitals and other critical infrastructure aimed at recreating socio-economic activities of the areas.
