Borno says it needs $20m to resettle internally displaced persons from Boko Haram terror

BORNO State has revealed that it will need close to $20m to resettle people displaced by the Boko Haram crisis that has led to about 2m people fleeing from their homes and becoming both internal and external refugees.

 

Over the last two years, millions of people have fled from towns and villages across Borno State as Boko Haram went on a killing spree, capturing 14 local government areas. At the peak of the insurgency, 22 of the 27 local governments of the state were occupied on one shape or form by the insurgents, which led to about 2m people fleeing to Maiduguri, the state capital, and others taking refuge in the neighbouring countries of Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

 

Over the last two months, the Nigerian Army, along with its Chadian, Cameroonian and Nigerien counterparts have repelled the terrorists, regaining a lot of territory from them. However, most of the villages in Borno State remain uninhabited as people fear a return of the terrorists and Maiduguri is said to be home to about half of the state's population.

 

Speaking yesterday while receiving a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Maiduguri, led by its president Peter Maurer, the Borno State deputy governor Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, asked for help. He added that the state government needs the assistance of all, including the federal government and international donor agencies, to rehabilitate the internally displaced persons (IDP).

 

Alhaji Mustapha lamented that since the displacement of many residents from their communities by Boko Haram insurgents, the state government has had to shoulder the responsibility of feeding the IDPs through the State Emergency Management Agency. He noted that although troops have liberated most of the communities under the control of Boko Haram in the state, the government and the IDPs found it difficult to go back to their homes and pick up the pieces of their lives.

 

This, the deputy governor attributed  to security reports that said most of the roads and streets leading to the affected communities and their farmlands were not safe as improvised explosive devices and landmines had been planted by departing terrorists. He however commended the effort of the Red Cross for its humanitarian assistance to the victims of the insurgency.

 

Alhaji Mustapha said: “We, the government and good people of Borno State want to use this opportunity to thank you the Red Cross, the National Emergency Management Agency and other donor agencies for supporting us in this our trying moment. Some 22 out of the 27 local government areas were destroyed and over 1m IDPs are living in Maiduguri, the state capital, alone.

 

“Just yesterday, we received another batch of 4,500 IDPs from Geidam who were sent away by the government of Niger Republic and more are still on their way to Maiduguri.”