My successor will not inherit Boko Haram, IDP camps, says Shettima

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Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has pledged that his successor would not inherit Boko Haram crisis and the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDP).

He made the declaration yesterday in Maiduguri while inaugurating three committees at the Government House, for the resettlement of 2 million displaced persons.

He warned against resettling any displaced person without recourse to safety and dignity, in accordance with the Kampala Convention on refugees.

The committees’ terms of reference include theverification and registration of all returning IDPs, issuance of identification cards, numbering rebuilt permanent shelters and resettlement of all displaced persons.

He said: “The inauguration of these high-powered committees was in furthering our progressive work towards the resettling of the IDPs in the liberated and rebuilt communities.”

He urged the committees to ensure that civil society is restored in any community, as well as access schools, healthcare centres, water and means of livelihood before the resettlements are affected.

“They must always refer to the military and relevant security agencies in carrying out this assignment,” he said. Also, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, has cautioned against unpredictable movement of displaced persons.

He said the movements of the displaced persons and refugees from neighbouring countries had continued to pose a challenge to humanitarian agencies.

The Public Information Officer at the UN office, Abiodun Banire, in Abuja, stated the warning in a statement. He explained that 1.7million IDPs had been displaced in the eight-year insurgency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in the northeast alone.