Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said that the Federal Government plans to assist victims of last Sunday’s attack by Boko Haram on Auno, a town in Borno state.
Farouq, who led a delegation of the government to Auno on Thursday, said the authority would take the statistics of those affected in the attack for support and intervention.
“We will come to take the lists of those affected. You all know President Buhari came to Borno yesterday to sympathise with the people of Borno. We are here as follow up with the instruction of our president,” the Minister said.
She described the Boko Haram attack on travellers at Auno by the insurgents as pathetic.
She appealed to the people to take heart in the midst of an appalling situation, assuring the townsfolk that her team was on ground to condole with them, assess the situation and plan an intervention.
Chairman, Northeast Development Commission (NEDC), Maj Gen Paul Tarfa, and the Commission’s Managing Director, Mohammed Goni Alkali, said the team had come to deliver the President’s condolence message to the people of Auno.
President Buhari visited Maiduguri Wednesday but did not go to Auno. His media aide, Shehu Garba, said the President’s sympathy visit to the Shehu of Borno indicated respect for the people.
Scores of residents have fled the town in aftermath of the last Sunday’s deadly attack where 30 travellers were reportedly killed by terror group Boko Haram.