Borno Needs Over US$20m To Resettle IDPs – Shettima

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, (THEWILL) – The Borno State Government said on Tuesday that it would require over $20 million to resettle those displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency back to their homelands.

The state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, stated this while welcoming a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) led by its president, Mr. Peter Maurer, to his office in Maiduguri, the state capital.

Represented by the deputy governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, Shettima said Borno would require the assistance of all, including the Federal Government and international donor agencies to rehabilitate the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

He lamented that since many residents were displaced from their communities by the insurgents, the state government has been overwhelmed by the responsibility of feeding the IDPs through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) almost alone.

Expressing gratitude to the Red Cross for its humanitarian assistance to the victims of the insurgency, he said: “We, the government and good people of Borno state want to use this opportunity to thank you (Red Cross), NEMA and other donor agencies for supporting us in this our trying moment. 22 out of the 27 local government areas were destroyed, over 1million IDPs are living in Maiduguri, the state capital alone.

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

“Borno State need over 20 million dollars to resettle its people that were displaced as most houses, business centres and places of worship were all destroyed by the insurgents.

“Though, the military has liberated 97 percent of the communities taken over by insurgents in Borno, it will take time for the government to fumigate and diffuse the landmines before they are relocated to their various communities.”

The President of the ICRC, Maurer, had told the Deputy Governor that his team was in the state to personally see the IDPs and hear from them, particularly their conditions.

This, he said, is to assist the organisation in considering an increase in its humanitarian gestures as a result of the renewed attacks and killings by Boko Haram.

While sympathising with government and people of the state and the north- east sub-region in general over the insurgency, he called on other donor agencies to assist in cushioning the hardship faced by the victims of the crisis.