Borno state Appeals to FG for Assistance to Settle IDPs
The Governor of Borno State has said that it needs over $20m to successfully resettle internally displaced citizens back to their communities.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, disclosed this while representing Governor Kashim Shettima, and addressing a delegation of the Red Cross organisation in Maiduguri.
Mustapha said that in order to rehabilitate the displaced persons, the state would need the assistance of the Federal Government and international donor agencies, as it has been solely responsible for the feeding of the IDPs through the State Emergency Management Agency so far.
Thanking the Red Cross organisation- led by its President, Peter Maurer-, Mustapha 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. Twenty-two out of the 27 local government areas were destroyed; over a million 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.
“Borno State needs 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 per cent 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.”