- Soldiers rescue 11,595 hostages in one month –Army
From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri and Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
UNITED Nations Assistant Secretary and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel Region, Mr. Toby Lanzer, has described the crisis in the North East states affected by Boko Haram insurgency as “terribly worse” and has called on countries and donor agencies to lend their support towards rebuilding the area.
Lanzer, who visited Konduga and Bama in Borno, on Tuesday, said the UN has set aside $200 million for assistance to provide water and health faculties in devastated communities and for rehabilitation of the 2.5 million people displaced by the insurgency.
“The humanitarian consequence here is great and one of the worst in the world,” the UN official, who was visiting Borno State for the second time in eight months, stated.
Describing the impact of insurgency in the areas visited as terrible, Lanzer said “villages have been wiped out, markets destroyed and lives completely wrecked. I think it is important that International communities stand with people of Borno and Nigeria government,” he said.
He promised that the UN would assist farmers “get better harvest and help stabilise.”
Governor Kashim Shettima, in his reaction, said it became expediendirected local government workers to return and provide health services to internally displaced persons (IDPs), threatening to withhold their salaries should they fail to return.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has reassured that it would meet the deadline of October for fixing the United Nations building that was bombed by insurgents in 2013.
The assurance was given by Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, while receiving a delegation of the UN’s Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Nigeria, Ms Fatma Samoura, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office, yesterday .
Responding to their plight that 1,900 UN staff are presently suffering office accommodation inconveniences, Udoma said: “Our government is sorry about the present UN office accommodation inconvenience. I shall effectively liaise with the Federal Capital Territory administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that the October 2016 rebuilding deadline of the Nigeria’s UN building is met; all that is required for the staff to move into the building will be addressed.”
In a related development, the Nigerian Army yesterday said its soldiers on internal security operations in the North East have so far rescued 11,595, persons held captive by the Boko Haram terrorists in the last one month.
Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, who made this known in Abuja, said most of the abducted persons were rescued at various towns and villages that was hitherto under the control of the terrorists from neighboring Cameroon.
He said 10,000 refugees, were received from the Republic of Cameroon at Banki and Bama, respectively, 63, at Maler, 779, at Fotokol, a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon. 45 at Kuaguru, 27 at Gadayamo,15 at Galadadani Dam in Madagali and ten persons from Disa village.
Usman, in a statement said seven persons held captives by Boko Haram terrorists were rescued at Betso village, among them, five elderly women and two girls, 14 from Sahuda, a border town with Cameroon, 59 at Bitta.