FG Threatens Sponsors, Sympathisers of Boko Haram Insurgency

• Laments increasing humanitarian crisis
Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The federal government on Saturday asked those showing sympathy to the terrorists through forced recruitment, funding and provision of weaponry to desist from such acts or face total annihilation.

The government, however, lamented the increasing humanitarian crisis in the country, noting that consequences resulting from the crisis had been devastating and slowing down development in the nation.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha expressed this concern yesterday at a public forum organised to mark the 2018 World Humanitarian Day in Abuja yesterday.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of the SGF, Mr. Gabriel Aduda, Mustapha acknowledged that humanitarian crisis was only a recent phenomenon in Nigeria, though had gulped a lot of resources that should have been used for economic and social development programmes.

He warned those sponsoring terrorists through forced recruitment, funding and provision of weaponry “to lay down your arms and embrace peace and reconciliation to avoid total annihilation by our gallant armed forces.
“In the spirit of the celebration, all Nigerians should not only show solidarity to humanitarian workers but also support the vulnerable and those caught in the web of humanitarian crisis,” Mustapha said. Mustapha pointed out that the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East region has become one of the most challenging crises, though claimed that it was committed to end the insurgency.

In Nigeria, he explained that the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East region had become one of the most challenging crises, though the federal government “is committed to end the insurgency. In doing so, the rights and protection of civilians and humanitarian workers will be guaranteed.”

Mustapha noted that the campaign “is the protection of civilian and that they should not be the object of attack during crisis. Every year, the scope and complexity of the challenges faced by the humanitarian community are expanding giving the dimension of natural induced disasters/conflicts.”

As the world becomes more volatile, he noted that it was imperative to stand in solidarity with the humanitarian actors working in risky and hazardous environment around the world to assist the vulnerable people affected by disasters or conflicts and giving them hope and ensuring their speedy recovery.

He said: “As humanitarian actors, we must not continue to work in silos responding only to humanitarian crisis. We must spread our hands of fellowship to those on the development platform to find out the root causes of some of the conflicts and develop early warning strategies that will help us reduce or eliminate the possibility of conflicts that can lead to humanitarian crisis.”

Mustapha, therefore, called for early warning systems and forecasting, which he argued, had a very important role to play in the reduction of the impact of natural or human-induced disasters.
Also at the forum, the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Mustapha Maihaja, who visited the site of the collapsed building, in Jabi axis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), confirmed the rescue of seven persons and the death of only one person died against the reported two.

The director-general noted that one person was critically injured and five others rescued alive, adding that the rescue operation has been called off by various stakeholders involved.