The Nigerian military took us to towns taken back from Boko Haram in the north-east. Some are almost impossible to reach by road because the insurgents have blown up bridges.
From one town to another, Boko Haram fighters have left their imprint of destruction – the charred remains of market places, homes, government buildings and farms. Signboards have been painted over in black and replaced with Boko Haram insignia and inscriptions in Arabic.
“Thank you! Thank you!” a group of women chant as they praise the soldiers who reclaimed their town, Doron Baga, from Boko Haram.
They are the few people we found in the area. Most others fled after possibly the worst insurgent attack yet in the region.
It has been suggested that during the January attack, Boko Haram killed hundreds, possibly more – and then set fire to dozens of buildings.
‘Those bastards kill men’
Now the town is deserted. At the main market area, blackened-out shells have replaced what would have been busy shops.
Mangled motorcycles litter the streets, their tyres blown out. Decomposing bodies lie by the roadside and fill the air with the stench of death.
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