See the Nigerian Town Freed From Boko Haram

3 minute read

Even before Nichole Sobecki’s helicopter landed in Bama, Nigeria, on March 25, the staggering devastation was visible.

The militant group Boko Haram, which has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), held the key northeastern town for six months before military forces wrestled control of it about a week earlier. The American photographer, based in Nairobi but recently working in Abuja, was embedded with Nigeria’s army, which took back Bama as part of a multi-pronged effort that also includes forces from neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

“Corrugated iron roofs lie among charred debris, the walls of houses blackened with soot or in ruins,” she tells TIME. “Dusty roads inside the town offer further evidence of atrocities. The remains of a man lie in a sewer, in the fetal position surrounded by trash and human waste. A nearby bridge was used as an execution site,” she adds. “Soldiers cover their faces when entering Bama’s former prison to protect themselves from the smell of those killed as a final act of vengeance before Boko Haram fled the town.”

Sobecki says Bama is now a shadow of a town.

“It’s empty of all but a fraction of its people; its buildings collapsed; the smell of decay everywhere,” she says. “Most people had fled in the days before I got there, often to Maiduguri, where an estimated 7,500 people are camped out in a makeshift settlement of little more than a few dilapidated buildings in a clearing of Neem trees on the outskirts of the city.”

Those who remain—mainly women and children—sit “huddled together on the roadside,” she continues, “seeking shelter from the harsh sun in what little shade they can find as camouflaged troops roll by in armored personnel carriers.”

Nigerians will go to the polls this weekend, but despite a big push from the country’s military and its allies against Boko Haram, much needs to happen for the country to stabilize.

“This crisis has been years in the making,” Sobecki says. “It’s going to take a much more sustained effort to restore any meaningful sense of security here. When I visited northern Nigeria in 2010, I saw a crumbling education system, poor infrastructure and poverty and unemployment out of line with the rest of the country. Today, it doesn’t look much different.”

Read next: Why Nigeria’s Elections Could Trigger Renewed Violence

Nigerian troops patrol in Bama on March 25, 2015.
Nigerian troops patrol in Bama, in the country's northeast on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view of the Nigerian northeastern town of Bama on March 25, 2015.
An aerial view of Bama, a northeastern town in Nigeria on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
Nigerian troops celebrate after taking over Bama from Boko Haram on March 25, 2015.
Nigerian troops celebrate after taking over Bama from Boko Haram about a week earlier on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
Three young men, who were discovered while entering Bama, sit blindfolded in the back of a pick-up truck before being taken for interrogation by the Nigerian army in Bama on March 25, 2015.
Three young men, who were discovered while entering Bama, sit blindfolded in the back of a pick-up truck before being taken for interrogation by the Nigerian army in Bama on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Nigerian army discover a body decomposing in a sewer in Bama on March 25, 2015.
Members of the Nigerian army discover a body decomposing in a sewer in Bama on March 25, 2015.Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
Nigerian troops inspect the former emir's palace that was used by Boko Haram as their headquarters but was burnt down when they fled Bama on March 25, 2015.
Nigerian troops inspect the former emir's palace in Bama on March 25, 2015, which was used by Boko Haram militants as a headquarters but burned down when they fled.Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
The wreckage of a burnt car outside the former emir's palace that was used by Boko Haram as their headquarters but was burnt down when they fled Bama on taken on March 25, 2015.
The wreckage of a burnt car sits outside the former emir's palace that was used by Boko Haram militants as a headquarters but was burned down when they fled Bama, March 25, 2015.Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
A Nigerian army soldier prays in Bama on March 25, 2015.
A Nigerian army soldier prays in Bama on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
A young woman lies ill in a makeshift hospital room in Maiduguri on March 25, 2015.
A young woman lies ill in a makeshift hospital room in Maiduguri, northwest of Bama on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images
Civilians who fled the fighting in Bama and the surrounding areas in recent days walk at a makeshift camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Maiduguri on March 25, 2015.
Civilians who fled the fighting in Bama and the surrounding areas in recent days walk at a makeshift camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Maiduguri, northwest of Bama on March 25, 2015. Nichole Sobecki—AFP/Getty Images

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