President Muhammadu Buhari declared Wednesday in Abuja that the return of
persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency to their home communities
will begin in earnest next year.
Speaking at an audience with a delegation from the International Rescue
Committee (IRC) led by former British Foreign Minister, Mr. David
Miliband, President Buhari said that his administration will do all
within its powers to facilitate the quick return and resettlement of over
two million internally displaced persons in their towns and villages.
The President told Mr. Miliband and his delegation that the Federal
Government will welcome the support of the IRC and other local and
international non-governmental organizations for the rehabilitation of
internally displaced persons.
“In 2016, the return of the IDPs will start in earnest. They will return
to their communities to meet destroyed schools and other infrastructure
which have to be rebuilt.
“With agriculture being moribund in the region in the last two years
without cropping, hunger is already manifest. We will welcome all the
help we can get to assist the returnees, ” President Buhari said.
Responding to a request by Mr. Miliband for the Federal Government’s
priorities as to the nature of assistance required for the IDPs, the
President said that there was an urgent need for support in the areas of
agricultural inputs, health, nutrition, water and sanitation.
President Buhari urged the IRC and other international agencies to work
with the Presidential Committee on the North-East and the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) which, he said, were already doing a
lot to cater for the IDPs and restore some basic infrastructure in
communities affected by terrorism and insurgency.
Mr. Miliband assured President Buhari that the IRC will intensify its
ongoing work in Nigeria which has assisted over 350,000 displaced persons,
mainly in Adamawa and Borno states.
He called for an increased security presence in recovered towns and
territories, saying that most prospective returnees still feared for their
safety on their return home.