President Muhammadu Buhari declared Wednesday in Abuja that the return of<\/p>\n
persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency to their home communities
\nwill begin in earnest next year.<\/p>\n
Speaking at an audience with a delegation from the International Rescue
\nCommittee (IRC) led by former British Foreign Minister, Mr. David
\nMiliband, President Buhari said that his administration will do all
\nwithin its powers to facilitate the quick return and resettlement of over
\ntwo million internally displaced persons in their towns and villages.<\/p>\n
The President told Mr. Miliband and his delegation that the Federal
\nGovernment will welcome the support of the IRC and other local and
\ninternational non-governmental organizations for the rehabilitation of
\ninternally displaced persons.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2016, the return of the IDPs will start in earnest. They will return
\nto their communities to meet destroyed schools and other infrastructure
\nwhich have to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n
“With agriculture being moribund in the region in the last two years
\nwithout cropping, hunger is already manifest. We will welcome all the
\nhelp we can get to assist the returnees, ” President Buhari said.<\/p>\n
Responding to a request by Mr. Miliband for the Federal Government’s
\npriorities as to the nature of assistance required for the IDPs, the
\nPresident said that there was an urgent need for support in the areas of
\nagricultural inputs, health, nutrition, water and sanitation.<\/p>\n
President Buhari urged the IRC and other international agencies to work
\nwith the Presidential Committee on the North-East and the National
\nEmergency Management Agency (NEMA) which, he said, were already doing a
\nlot to cater for the IDPs and restore some basic infrastructure in
\ncommunities affected by terrorism and insurgency.<\/p>\n
Mr. Miliband assured President Buhari that the IRC will intensify its
\nongoing work in Nigeria which has assisted over 350,000 displaced persons,
\nmainly in Adamawa and Borno states.<\/p>\n
He called for an increased security presence in recovered towns and
\nterritories, saying that most prospective returnees still feared for their
\nsafety on their return home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n