Marte, Nigeria

Marte LGA
LGA and town
Country	Nigeria
State	Borno State
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)

Marte is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, on the western coast of Lake Chad. Its headquarters are in the town of Marte

It has an area of 3,154 km² and a population of 129,370 at the 2006 census.

The postal code of the area is 611.^[1]

It is one of the sixteen LGAs that constitute the Borno Emirate, a traditional state located in Borno State, Nigeria.^[2]

Agriculture

In 2013, according to PM News,

5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of wheat and rice were left to rot in the Marte area of Borno near Lake Chad after 19,000 farmers abandoned their farms. “We lost 200 metric tonnes of wheat as a result of the exodus,” said Abubakar Gabra Iliya, head of the Lake Chad Basin Development Agency, based in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri. A 2012 NEMA report said that violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has caused 60 percent of farmers to leave the fertile region.^[3]

Climate

The annual temperature in Marte, Nigeria's Subtropical steppe climate, is 34.39 °C (93.9 °F), with 38.89 mm of precipitation and 65.83 wet days.^[4][5]

Boko Haram violence

In May 2014, Boko Haram attacked villages in Marte LGA, according to The Punch. Kirenowa town had about 20 deaths, with one observer stating that over 60 houses were burnt.^[6] In the town of Ngurmuji, over 40 deaths were reported.^[7]

In Gurmushi Village, a "remote border community" on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, 40 deaths were reported. However, this claim could not be verified as of May 28.^[8][9]

On 2 February 2015, the Nigerian Army said it had recaptured Marte from Boko Haram, along with the nearby towns of Gamboru, Mafa, Mallam Fatori, and Abadam, following joint military operations by Nigerian and Cameroonian forces, civilian forces, and three days of Chadian airstrikes.^[10] However, in August 2016, Borno State government stated that Marte still hadn't been fully cleared of Boko Haram control.^[11]

On 16 January 2021, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters armed with machine guns overran the military base in Marte. ISWAP said seven were killed and one person was captured. They said they seized weapons, ammunition, six-wheel vehicles, and burned down the barracks.^[12]

References

1. "Post Offices- with map of LGA". NIPOST. Archived from the original on 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
2. Nigeria (2000). Nigeria: a people united, a future assured. Vol. 2, State Surveys (Millennium ed.). Abuja, Nigeria: Federal Ministry of Information. p. 106. ISBN 9780104089.
3. "Food supply crisis imminent in Nigeria". P.M. NEWS Nigeria. 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
4. "Marte, Borno, NG Climate Zone, Monthly Averages, Historical Weather Data". tcktcktck.org. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
5. "Marte Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Nigeria) - Weather Spark". weatherspark.com. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
6. Kayode Idowu. "30 more killed in Borno Villages". The Punch. Archived from the original on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
7. Ola' Audu (2014-05-29). "Again, Boko Haram attacks Borno villages, kills 48". Premium Times. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
8. Brownie Marie (2014-05-29). "Boko Haram attacks leave over 90 Nigerians dead in Borno and Yobe States". Christian News on Christian Today. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
9. Stella Omona (2014-05-28). "Nigeria: Again, Insurgents Kill 44 in Borno, Plateau Attacks". Daily Independent (Lagos) - allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
10. "Nigeria claims Gamboru, four towns recaptured from Boko Haram". AFP - Yahoo News. 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
11. "Relocate to IDP camps, Borno orders council chairmen". Daily Trust. Media Trust. 2016-08-29. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
12. "Armed group captures military base in northeast Nigeria". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera English. AFP. January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.