Borno Is Set To Commence Resettlement of Bama IDPs Back To Bama Town 2nd April 2018... SSG..

Borno State Government Tuesday urged the Federal Government through the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiatives (PCNI) to without further delay commence the immediate implementation of Bama Initiatives meant for the reconstruction of social infrastructures that were destroyed by boko haram insurgents in Bama Local Government Area, as most of its Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were set to return back to their original homes or communities on Monday 2nd April, 2018.

Addressing Journalists on Tuesday in Maiduguri, the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Usman Jidda Shuwa, who led other stakeholders from Bama, said, facilities in Bama town and its environs, particularly the road networks within the town need to be reconnected to other areas, as according to him, the Federal Ministry of Finance is said to have released some funds to that effect.

SSG said, " as part of Borno state Government's declared intention and deliberate commitment to the restoration of full normalcy in all parts of the state, the State Security Council meeting held last Thursday 15th March, 2018 approved the phased return of all IDPs from Bama.

"This is after careful and meticulous assessment of the overall security situation in Bama town and its sorrounding communities, as well as the massive reconstruction efforts by the state government which resolved that the time is ripe and the atmosphere is favourable for the IDPs to go back to their homes in phases.

"It would interest you to know that Gov. Kashim Shettima has committed billions of naira despite its meagre resources to the reconstruction of virtually all institutional structures and most of the private residential buildings callously destroyed by the insurgents in Bama town and other communities, so most of pur IDPs are guaranteed to a decent accommodation upon their return.

"However, in the first Phase as I said earlier, a special template is being designed to capture the essential personal data of prospective returnees for the purpose of easy identification and security clearance.

" All IDPs who have been shortlisted to return, would be accompanied by their respective District and Wards Heads, and adequate security by not only our conventional security agencies like the Police, DSS and Army, but also by Vigilante Groups and Hunters." Shuwa stated.

The Chairman Transition & Relocation Committee, Alhaji Abba Jato Mohammed said so far the committee has registered and screened 12,000 IDPs at the IDPs camps for resettlement in the first phase for Saturday and about 11,000 residential houses have been numbered and reconstructed for the owners in Bama town by the Borno state ministry of reconstruction rehabilitation and resettlement.

He added that other necessary facilities and amenities have been resuscitated and ready for use while state and federal government offices and establishments including commercial areas and banks have been reconstructed and ready for occupation.

The chairman added that the relocation will be in phases as the IDPs were categorized into four groups of IDPs from the Bama designated IDPs camps in Maiduguri, IDPs from the host communities within the state, IDPs outside the state but within the country and finally, IDPs outside the country Nigeria in neighbouring countries Niger, Chad and Cameroon Republics or others. End