[News] Address increasing poverty, infrastructure deficit and climate vulnerabilities – Governor Zulum tells FG as he expresses fear of IDPs joining terrorists

 

Governor Babagana Zulum has expressed fear of some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) joining Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, due to increasing poverty, infrastructure deficit and the climate vulnerabilities.

 

Speaking at the closure of Dalori-1, Dalori-2, Gubio and Muna IDP camps in Maiduguri, Zulum said that the state government cannot continue to keep its people in the IDP camps.

He stated that he will do everything possible to ensure that more communities are resettled in a dignified manner.

 

Zulum said;

 

“The only way to address the problems of insurgency is for the government to address the root cause which among others includes increasing poverty, infrastructure deficit and the climate vulnerabilities.

“Therefore, what we need to do is to return the IDPs to their ancestral homes in a dignified manner. Nobody is forced to return to his ancestral home, we are here to support voluntary return in accordance with the Kampala Convention. People will be supported with means of livelihood so that they earned their means of livelihood by themselves otherwise our people shall continue to live in the IDP camps.”

 

Zulum who also promised that all IDP camps will be closed before the expiration of his tenure, appealed to the Federal Government to initiate a medium and long sustainable framework to curb the over dependence humanitarian support by the IDPs.