Hundreds return home after Boko Haram clearance by Nigerian army

Hundreds of Nigerians who fled Boko Haram attacks in the northeastern Borno State have returned to devastated towns and villages in recent days after the army seized the militant group’s last remaining strongholds, said the United Nations.

Spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) told journalists that families will return to find their homes and farmland destroyed, basic services wiped out and will live under the persistent threat of attacks by the jihadist group.

In the last week, buses organised by the state government have begun transporting people from the capital Maiduguri to the newly accessible areas, with others returning by their own means.

UNHCR scaling its operations up & focusing on needs of some 488k highly vulnerable people in newly liberated areas in #Borno State #Nigeria.

— UNHCRNews (@RefugeesMedia) August 19, 2016

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UNHCR has entered 10 districts of Borno in recent weeks, where 800,000 people are in need of urgent assistance, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

Despite the Nigerian army’s success in driving Boko Haram out of occupied territory, the militants still manage to stage regular suicide bombings in Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.