By Taiye Odewale
Abuja
President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has called on the European Union and other donor agencies for more support to solve the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east.
Saraki, stated this yesterday when the President of the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Pittella Gianni, visited him at the National Assembly in Abuja.
The Senate President, who was represented by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, thanked the EU for their support so far, but said more assistance was needed to feed and resettle scores of displaced persons now living in camps.
“Boko Haram insurgency started around 2009, we have been able to receive a lot of support from EU in fighting Boko Haram and to our delight, the situation has improved from what it used to be in 2014 and 2015. What we are battling with now is the humanitarian situation caused by the insurgency.
“This is particularly a sad situation. Millions of our people are displaced. What we are battling today is to get these people back to their respective communities and also to ensure that we provide sustenance for them and that is the other challenge.
“I want to use this opportunity to urge the European Union to step up and give more support, especially in terms of security that would be required and I want to assure you that, we will do everything possible to ensure that whatever support we get from the EU or other bodies, is applied judiciously”, Saraki said.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation said that the EU Parliament shared the pain of Nigeria as a nation and, therefore, would like to contribute to combat illegal migration through Foreign Direct Investment into the economy.
He, however, urged the National Assembly to address legal challenges as regards the inflow of FDIs by amending the relevant laws.
