1st January, 2021
By Yakubu Uba/Maiduguri
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno has appealed for urgent food supplies by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to about 800,000 displaced people in areas affected by insurgency.
Zulum made the request in a letter he presented during a visit to NEMA headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
The governor informed the agency’s boss, AVM Muhammadu Alhaji Mohammed about the critical needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 11 towns.
The IDPs are in Monguno, Bama, Damboa, Gwoza, Dikwa, Gamboru, Ngala, Damasak, Banki, Pulka and Gajiram.
Zulum said they need urgent access to food supplies, according to a statement by Malam Isa Gusau, the governor’s Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy.
In the letter, Zulum acknowledged interventions made by NEMA, the North East Development Commission and efforts by the Nigerian Customs Service, following presidential directive two years ago that food seizures be used for humanitarian support in crises areas.
Zulum also noted that food interventions must be sustained because majority of IDPs rely on agriculture as means of livelihood, and substantial portions of them cannot access their farmlands due to insurgents’ attacks.”
Director general of NEMA assured the Borno governor of sustained support, and lauded the efforts of Zulum’s administration toward transforming the state through a well thought out development plan.
The NEMA boss also assured Zulum of the agency’s support, particularly in the actualisation of the state’s recently unveiled 25 year development plan.
Zulum on Thursday also met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, on inter-governmental efforts for repatriation of thousands of Borno citizens displaced by insurgency, presently taking refuge in Cameroon in the last six years.
There are more than 60,000 of such refugees in Minawawo camp in Cameroon, waiting to be evacuated.