The Presidency on Monday said no fewer than 20,000 people were killed by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, between 2011 and 2015 in Nigeria.
It added that about 1.8 million people were also displaced from their towns and villages by the sect.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, said this in a statement made available to journalists.
Akande quoted the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Internally Displaced Persons, Dr. Marian Masha, as reeling out the figure from a report titled, “Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment.”
He said the RPBA findings estimated that about $9bn would be required for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in the in the six North-East states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
He said the findings also revealed that the six states would need $6.4bn to undertake recovery efforts to cushion the devastation inflicted on the North-East geopolitical zone between 2011 and 2015.
Akande further quoted Masha as saying that Borno State was worse hit by the crisis with a loss of $6bn.
He said the RPBA findings also revealed that Yobe and Adamawa states were next in devastation, adding that the destruction in other parts of the region was enormous but with less gravity.
He said the North-East region suffered damages worth $3bn in housing alone while it also suffered damages in terms of livestock which brought about the need to restore agriculture in the region.
The assessments, he said, were carried out under the three main components of Infrastructure and Social Services, Peace Building, Stability and Social Cohesion, and Economic Recovery with focus on cross-cutting issues such as governance and accountability, citizen engagement, institutional capacity for implementation, gender, youth, human rights and de-mining.
“Dr. Masha added that no fewer than 20,000 lives were lost while 1.8 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and the planned interventions are to be implemented over time, in view of resources that are available for its implementation,” he said.
He said Masha also described recovery in the North-East as a priority of the Federal Government, adding that that had been demonstrated by the ownership and leadership of the recovery assessment process.
He said the three-volume report recommended a two-phase strategic plan of two years for stabilisation and a recovery phase of two years to restore the North-East to progress and development.
The Federal Government had in January unveiled the assessment programme which is a collaboration effort between the Nigerian government and three global development partners – the World Bank, European Union and the United Nations.
The effort, he explained, was aimed at supporting government in its short and medium term efforts towards peace building and sustainable recovery in the North-East.
Akande said the pre-financing assessment jointly carried out by the federal and states governments alongside the global partners were completed at a workshop in Abuja last week.
He said the development rekindled the hope of the return of millions of internally displaced Nigerians to their homes and communities soon.
The global partners who he said had signed a tripartite agreement to facilitate the assessment are now expected to support the government in the financing of the North-East reconstruction including an offer by the World Bank to make available $800m.
He added that there were indications from the global partners to do more in terms putting in place an institutional framework to rebuild and arrange financing from other development agencies.
“The assessment and validation exercises completed in Nigeria’s North-East geopolitical zone have revealed the quantum of damage and the requirements to address the post-conflict recovery.
“For instance, while the extent of damage was put at about $9bn, the assessment revealed that over $6bn would be needed for immediate and near term stabilisation and recovery of the region,” he added. Punch
