BEVERLY HILLS, June 16 (THEWILL) – Indications emerged on Tuesday that the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno State may soon return to their homes as the reconstruction of their destroyed communities is expected to start immediately after Ramadan.
However, the reconstruction is to be assisted by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) which is expected to collaborate with the Borno State Government in rebuilding the communities destroyed by Boko Haram.
The state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, gave the hint in Maiduguri, the state capital, when he played host to the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi, who was on a visit to the IDPs camps in the state capital along with other officials of the agency, including the Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, and that of Finance, Alhaji Akeem Akingbola.
This came as the NEMA chief executive disclosed that Borno alone has over 70 percent of the total population of IDPs in the three Northeast states affected by Boko Haram, saying that the agency was working toward ensuring the resettlement of displaced persons in the 22 IDPs camps in Maiduguri.
“We are working toward durable resettlement of displaced persons in the Northeast. We are in Borno as a follow up visit of our humanitarian efforts,” the NEMA boss said.
According to Sidi, the agency had signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the state government on the management of humanitarian needs of the displaced persons about two months ago, saying his visit to Borno was aimed at kick-starting the humanitarian support for the IDPs which NEMA was constitutionally empowered to do.
He disclosed that his visit to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) was to see those injured in recent bomb blasts, adding that the agency also delivered over 26, 000 bags of rice, assorted food items, medication and other relief materials to the displaced Boko Haram victims in the state. Praising the NEMA boss for showing a personal commitment to the plight of displaced Boko Haram victims, Shettima said under the stewardship of Alhaji Sidi, NEMA has proven to be one of the performing agencies of the Federal Government by impacting on the lives of people through the activities of the agency.
The governor disclosed that NEMA has provided foodstuffs that could sustain the IDPs in the state for three months even as he stressed that the DG has visited Borno severally even during inclement political environment.
