Borno Govt to resettle 1.8m IDPs in 23 LGAs — Commissioner

The Borno Government is to return and resettled about 1.8 million persons displaced by insurgency in 23 local government areas in the state.

Mustapha Gubio, Commissioner for Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Resettlement, made this known on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri.

Gubio said the people would be back home as a result of the return of relative peace in the affected areas.

Gubio said those to be returned were those who indicated their willingness to go back home.

He observed that over the past decade, the insurgents violence in North-East had left about 2.5 million people displaced in the region, out of which 1.8 million affected were from Borno, triggering a serious humanitarian crisis.

He explained that the displaced population had lost their homes, farmlands and other sources of livelihoods, making them dependent on relief materials support from the state and federal governments as well as humanitarian organisations.

He explained that with the return of relative peace in most parts of the state, the state government embarked on massive rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed communities.

He added that so far thousands of houses, healthcare centres, schools, police stations, worship centres, markets, among others, had been reconstructed.

“These projects undertaken by the ministry was in line with Gov. Babagana Zulum’s 10-Point Agenda to fast-track the return of all displaced latest by May 29, 2021.

“As you are aware, the Borno government has started returning some from nearby communities.

“First, we started with the 560 families from Auno community in Konduga LGA and Ajiri in Mafa, where 2,800 willingly returned home.

“We have constructed about 500 houses in Ajiri, in addition to the 1,000 homes being constructed by the North East Development Commission (NEDC) in Ngwom in Mafa Local government area.

“We will resettle the people of Kawuri, an agrarian community in Konduga LGA, where we constructed 250 new houses for the people so that the can go back to their irrigation activities.

“We are also going to return displaced persons living in Banki from Cameroon to restore the socio-economic activities in the commercial town as soon as we get assurance from the Nigerian military.

“Arrangement is also in place to resettle some people in Wulgo, Malam Fatori, Krenuwa, Warabe, Ashgashiya, Kukawa, Gajibo and Bama before the end of this year,” Gubio said.

The commissioner, who noted that 90 per cent of the displaced population were farmers, said that resettling them would address the inherent issues of poverty, food insecurity and trigger rebuilding of lives and livelihoods in the state.

“His Excellency, Governor Zulum has visited the headquarters of the NSCDC in Abuja to request for more Angro Rangers personnel that would be deployed across the local government areas to protect the people in their farmlands,”he said.

According to him, the government also established skills acquisition and vocational training centres in all the LGAs, where meaningful skills would be imparted to the returnees to enable them become self reliant.

He said apart from farming, the youths would be encauraged to engage in tailoring, carpentry, pomade making, among others, to add value to their communities.

Also speaking to NAN, the Chairperson of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, said that the IDPs to be resettled included 43,920 in Bakkassi and Teachers village camps, 22,286 in NYSC Camp, 4,542 Stadium camps, 15,957 in Dalori camp I, and 19,491 in Dalori II among others.

She said that the state government had mapped out all strategies needed for the returnees in accordance with the provision of the Kampala Agreement to ensure their dignity and safety.