Mallam Sani Zorro

The North-East Development Commission Bill will be passed in time to ensure the rehabilitation of the ravaged area due to Boko Haram insurgency.

Malam Sani Zoro, Chairman, House Committee on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), made this promise during fact-finding visit to IDP camps in Damboa, Damboa Local Government Area of Borno on Monday.

“From what we have seen so far, it is clear to us that the inauguration of the North East Development Commission must be fast tracked; we must try and hasten the process of inaugurating the commission because it is the way out.

“That is the best solution to the crisis of displacement that is so massive among the people, especially in Borno that has actually placed Nigeria on the 4th and sometimes 5th position as the country with the highest level of human crisis in the whole world.”

According to Zoro,“there must be a mechanism in place that will address the devastation facing the area.

“The importance of North-East Development Commission when inaugurated is that it is going to serve as a focal point that will pull all the activities normally put in place to address the crisis in the short, in the medium and the long time.”

He expressed optimism that the headquarters of the commission will be located in Borno state due to the level of its devastation.

“We are also happy that the House of Representatives has particularly decided that the headquarters of the commission when fully passed into law will be cited in Maiduguri.

“This is because Maiduguri is the focal area or rather Borno is the focus of the Boko Haram .

“Seventy per cent of the entire crisis in the North-East is located in Borno, that 22 out of the 27 LGAs have been decimated substantially, devastated by the crisis.

“It does not make sense to locate the headquarters in Abuja or somewhere; this is totally unacceptable.”

Zoro said stakeholders at the public hearing held by House of Representatives on the Boko Haram crisis in April had recommended that the headquarters be cited in Borno.

“The decision to site the headquarters of the commission in the state is in consonance with all stakeholders that attended the April House of Representatives public hearing in Abuja.”

Zoro also attributed malnutrition in some IDP camps to lack of proper planning by the authorities concerned.

“Let me say that the specific problem of malnutrition, the specific aspect of shelter requirements, things of empowerment for those who want to voluntarily return to their homes, the entire protection and need of the IDPs especially those that are yet to be liberated must also be taken into account in the contingency plan.

“We have recommended in the House that there must be continuous supply of food and medicines to the IDPs such that once some are liberated from communities they will be cared for, there must be continuous supply of water, sanitation and other necessities by those in charge”, he said. (NAN)