Borno: Boko Haram Makes 20 Local Govts Inaccessible – SEMA

…Says 80,000 IDPs Residing In Maiduguri Camps … 500,000 Others Squatting In Different Homes SAN FRANCISCO, January 09, (THEWILL) – The Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Friday lamented the impact of the over five-year-old Boko Haram insurgency in the state on its operation.

Chairman of SEMA, Alhaji Grema Terab, who made the lamentation, said the Boko Haram insurgency had made 20 of the 27 Local Government Areas of the state inaccessible to officials of his Agency.

He also disclosed that 80,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were being taken care of at the various IDP camps in Maiduguri alone while about 500,000 others displaced by the crisis are squatting in various homes in the state capital .

The SEMA boss made the disclosures while accepting relief material from the Victims Support Fund (VSF) of the Federal Government, which was released through the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA).

He said the state government has been overwhelmed by the efforts to make the IDPs both at the camps and different homes in the state comfortable, saying the state government spends over N300 million on feeding, providing relief materials and managing the various IDP camps every month.

He however disclosed that SEMA Food For All Initiative, inaugurated by the state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, is aimed at distributing a bag of rice, maize grid and a gallon of cooking oil to each of the 32,000 families targeted under the programme, saying 4,800 families have so far benefitted from it.

“This is one of many initiatives, SEMA and other government agencies run in order to optimise the response of the government in alleviating the suffering of victims and the general populace, despite being stretched,” the SEMA boss said.

Expressing gratitude to leaders of the VSF for coming to inaugurate the distribution of some food items, he said “seeing you here over and over, gives us hope and confidence that our beloved brothers and sisters from other parts of the country have not forgotten us.”

According to Terab, “Your activities here really boosts our hope that the war will soon be over and VSF will immediately champion the rehabilitation of victims, rebuilding homes,towns and cities as well as resuscitation of the economy. I would like to reiterate that Borno needs your attention and help the most.”

In his response, the leader of the delegation who is the Chairman of sub-committee on Data Collection of VSF, Air Marshal Jonah Wuye, re-assured that the Federal Government would rebuild the homes and other structures of the victims of the crisis destroyed by the insurgents.

Represented at the inauguration by Dr. Bulama Gubio, a member of the committee representing Jamaatul Nasrul Islam (JNI) and Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), Wuye said the the fund was set up to source for fund towards rehabilitating the numerous victims of the insurgency in all parts of the country.

Assuring that about N58.79 billion realised at the launch of the fund in August was intact , he explained that “The Victims Support Fund is not an entirely a Federal Government thing.”

According to him, “It has membership from the federal, states, the private sector as well as international bodies like UNICEF, USAID among others.”

Maintaining that the objective of the Fund was to assist victims of insurgency to go back to their normal life after the crisis, he however lamented the inability of the Fund to begin rebuilding of damaged structures in Borno due to fresh attacks by the insurgents.

“The fund will have started rebuilding villages, markets, schools, and other public places destroyed by the insurgents, but for the fresh attacks in places.

“We are just waiting for the attacks to end and normalcy restored, so that we will start rebuilding the structures,” he said.

He also disclosed that the fund will also assist victims who lost their means of livelihood with token amount as business capital to start new life.

Gubio said that the presentation of the relief materials was aimed at cushioning the hardship faced by the recent victims of renewed attacks in the state.

“The items presented included 4, 800 bags of rice, 4, 800 bags of beans and 4, 800 litres of cooking oil.”

“The gesture was aimed at providing palliative for the families affected by the recent attacks in the state,” he said.