TheCable

Sambisa forest in Borno State is thought to be where the abducted secondary school girls are being kept by the Boko Haram insurgents. It is also believed to be the base they are operating from. Sambisa is, as it were, an oasis in the desert – it is about the only surviving forest in Borno State. What would have been a money-spinning tourist attraction is now spinning out of control, as militants have virtually seized the territory from Nigeria.  

1. Sambisa forest was a tourist attraction with mountains, trees and wild life.

2. The Gwoza Hills, with heights of about 1300m above the sea level, provides scenery and is made up of ranges of mountains known as the Mandara Mountains.

3. These mountains form a natural barrier between Nigeria and Cameroun.

4. With vast lands of forest vegetation, Sambisa forest was listed by the Nigeria National Park Service as a Game Reserve.

5. The colonial masters marked out the forest as games reserve where expatriates explored the riches of nature. Botanists also lived there to gather herbs for their researches.

6. Students of University of Maiduguri and other institutions across the country used to go there for excursions and picnics.

7. The forest overlooks a game reserve in Mubi, Adamawa State. It equally has boundary with the Mambilla Mountain which, is also home to Gashaka Game Reserve.

8. The mountains around Gwoza have several streams, ponds and springs dotting out into settlements around it. This mountain has varieties of attractive animal species which can be spotted when they are grazing.

9. The games reserve harbours a sizeable population of wildlife, typical of savannah habitat, such as monkeys, antelopes, lions, elephants, as well as bird species, such as ostrich and bustard.

10. The thick forest, which is usually swampy during rainy season, shares boundaries with Chibok, Askira Uba, Damboa, Gwoza, Konduga, Dikwa, Bama and other local government areas in Borno state.