Boko Haram still in control of Gwoza, other areas – IDPs chairman

The Chairman of the Internally Displaced Persons taking refuge at a camp in Kuchingoro, Abuja, Philemon Emmanuel, has said it was not true the Boko Haram Islamic sect has been tactically defeated in their domain.
According to Emmanuel, Gworza Local Government Area and other towns within the area were still under the control of Boko Haram.
He said they have been under pressure by the National Emergency Management Agency and the National Human Rights Commission to return to their various communities in order to prove that the insurgents have been defeated.
Emmanuel said this on Thursday when the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Otunba Dino Melaye, visited the camp on Thursday to spend his entire day with over 1,000 Internally Displaced Persons ‎in Kuchingoro, Abuja to mark his birthday.
Emmanuel commended Melaye, saying this would be the first time a serving senator would pay a visit to the IDPs camp.
He said even their own representative, Senator Ali Ndume, has abandoned them without visiting.
He said: “The NHRC and NEMA have continually told us that we will go back to our villages because Boko Haram has been pushed out of our villages, which is not true.
“No military went to our villages.
“There is no military in Gwoza and our village is controlled by Boko Haram.
“We are begging you to take our complaints to the National Assembly where Senator Ali Ndume claims to be representing us.
“But we leave him to God.
“We beg distinguished Senator Dino Melaye and the media to help us to talk to the Chief of Army Staff so that he can send soldiers to our villages to flush out the insurgents.
“If we are able to confirm that Boko Haram has been flushed out from our villages, even, tomorrow, we are ready to go.”