From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has disclosed that over 90,000 repentant Boko Haram ISWAP terrorists have voluntarily surrendered to the Army for disarmament, deradicalisation and reintegration.
He made the disclosure at an event organised on the margins of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York. The event had the theme “Strengthening Resilience and Sustaining Development: A Humanitarian Development Peace Approach to Leaving No One Behind.”
Addressing the audience made up of President Muhammadu Buhari, Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Martin Griffiths, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, governors and other dignitaries, he said: “I want to bring to the notice of this gathering that within the last one year, Borno State government and, indeed, the Federal Government has, so far, received over 90,000 repentant Boko Haram and ISWAP members.
“This has never happened anywhere in the world. In the history of the world, the insurgency is coming to an end. I’ve started seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
“Peace to the end tire of the North East subregion entails peace to the entire Europe; peace to the entire Europe means to the entire world.”
He said the acute humanitarian crisis has had a devastating social and economic impact on the population, further deepening fragility and poverty in the north east sub region.
“I must use this opportunity to commend the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency. Before assumption of duty of Mr President, 22 local government areas in Borno State, out of the 27 local government areas that we have, were under the control of Boko Haram insurgents.
But, today, none of our local government areas is under the control of Boko Haram insurgents.
“The Borno State government, with the support of the federal government and, indeed, the entire UN family has strengthened the resilience of the community. And that has ensured peace building social cohesion and sustainable development in the entire north east sub region.
“The nexus between peace, security and development need not to be over emphasised. If there is no peace, there will be no security. And if there is no security, there is no development.
“I’m glad to inform you that the President has also inaugurated the committee for the repatriation of all Nigerians that are living in the Republic of Chad, Cameroon, as well as Niger. And, to this effect, funding has been approved. And before the expiration of the tenure, we shall ensure complete repatriations of all the Nigerians that are living in other countries.”
Zulum urged the government of Nigeria, the UN and other development partners to shift their focus on providing immediate humanitarian support to medium and longer term sustainable and durable solutions that will address the increasing problems.