Boko Haram: FG Seeks Support for 80,000 Displaced Nigerians in Cameroon

Daji Sani in Yola

As part of efforts to receive over 80,000 displaced Nigerians who were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and are taking refuge in Cameroon Republic, the Federal Government has inspected the proposed site where the deportees would be hosted in Adamawa state.

The proposed site is the permanent site of the Adamawa State Polytechnic abandoned for more two decades situated at Konawaya village, a suburb of Yola the state capital, with the aim at rebuilding and making it conducive enough to accommodate the expected deportees.

While speaking in Yola yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Policy, Development and Analysis, Ibrahim Bapetel who represented the Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir David Lawal told journalists that the number of deportees expected is large hence adequate preparation has to be put in place before their arrival on Nigerian soil.

He urged various stakeholders to prepare a comprehensive needs report for onward transmission to the federal government, adding that due to the federal government’s concern over the plight of the deportees he was optimistic that the needs report would be treated with dispatch.

Bapetel noted that the size of the deportees was so large, urging international donors to also come to the assistance of the federal government in addressing the myriads challenges that would accrue in handling the deportees.

Also the Adamawa state government has called on the federal government as well as International Donor agencies to come to the rescue of the state, noting that the state government cannot single-handedly shoulder the responsibilities of catering for the teeming deportees.

The call came through the state’s commissioner for information, Mr. Ahmed Sajoh when he, alongside the federal government delegation, visited the proposed site where the deportees would be hosted.
Sajoh noted that the call has become imperative in view of the sheer size of the deportees and the nature of the proposed camp which he said needed complete rehabilitation.

He noted that even providing perimeter fencing on the facility would cost the state enormous funds besides providing other basic infrastructure, noting that the state government has serious financial constraint facing it, especially in consideration of the cash crunch facing the country.
Sajoh added the state government has already constituted a committee which would liaise with relevant stakeholders to see how best to tackle the issue including profiling of all deportees in order to ensure water tight security around the facility.

In his reaction, the Adamawa state camps coordinator of National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) Saad Bello noted that his organisation has made adequate arrangement to ensure that the deportees are adequately catered for.

He noted that the camp would need about 15 motorised boreholes and a number of hand pumps to take care of the water needs of the deportees as well as hundreds of toilets, adding that the challenge of hosting the deportees was enormous.