Ndume urges Gwoza IDPs to return home

Senator representing Borno South senatorial district at the national assembly, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume has urged all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Gwoza LGA of the state taking refuge in Maiduguri, city  to return home, while  assuring them adequate protection and security.

Ndume made the plea on Monday while addressing the IDPs in Bakassi and Gubio IDPs camps in Maiduguri city.

He also expressed disappointment that IDPs from Gwoza were yet to be resettled even when normalcy had returned to Gwoza town.

Ndume added that the Boko haram insurgency has reduced many people from Gwoza LGA to almost street beggars and they had to wait to be given handouts in the IDPs camp before they could feed.

“The Palestinian IDPs camp has been existing for 60 years; in Kenya, it existed for about 30 years. So, insecurity cannot be completely eliminated. We must therefore defy fears, summon courage and be resilient in order to achieve permanent solution to our problems.

“It is understood that some of them are traumatised because of what happened to them and they are scared they may be attacked again while some are thinking of what to do when they go back home.

“We have people of Izge and Limakara who lived inside the deep mountains, but have consistently defeated Boko Haram because they are resilient, focused, vigilant and always at alert.

“Because of their resilience, they are now expanding their territories; we can also do the same in Gwoza,” Ndume said.

The lawmaker further noted that government had already made efforts to rehabilitate and reconstruct many residential homes, schools, clinics, palace and other social amenities Gwoza to enhance civic authority.

“The Federal Government is also focusing on rehabilitation and resetlement of IDPs through the North East Development Commission (NEDC) with an approved take-off sum of N95 billion,” he said.

Ndume recalled that the European Union recently committed about N8 billion to support Post Insurgency Response, Recovery and Resilience for the IDPs in the education sector.

The senator said Gwoza was among the nine local government areas to benefit from the intervention. In the area of security, he lauded the Nigerian armed forces for adopting proactive modalities to secure returnees in their farmlands, homes and markets places.

Ndume expressed optimism that many farmers would record bumper harvests this cropping season, in view of improvement on security of lives and property.

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