Search for refugees: Borno dep gov tours Niger, Cameroon *6,420 crossed to Niger from Borno
Thousands of Nigerians, mostly indigenes of Borno have abandoned their farms, social and various economic endeavours and fled the state when Boko Haram insurgents subdued significant part of the northern fringes of the state. The trip to Bosso was a continuation of Borno’s voyage to neighbouring francophone countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon in search […]
Thousands of Nigerians, mostly indigenes of Borno have abandoned their farms, social and various economic endeavours and fled the state when Boko Haram insurgents subdued significant part of the northern fringes of the state.
The trip to Bosso was a continuation of Borno’s voyage to neighbouring francophone countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon in search of its fleeing citizens who could not withstand the violent uprising and the attendant deployment of troops to reclaim captured territories.
The deputy governor, a retired naval office had on July 2, 2013 visited some communities in Cameroon, across the Nigerian border, where he pleaded with over 20,000 Nigerians, mostly indigenes of Borno State to return home, assuring that peace had return.
Saturday’s voyage to Bosso proves to be more daunting and revealing, partly because of the difficulties involved in getting to the border community through the deserts which could only be assessed by 4-wheel drive vehicles.
Despite heavy security mounted by operatives of the Nigerian Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Multi National Joint Task Force (MJTF), there was also fear of ambush by insurgents, who many believe are mobile and unpredictable.
If it were a normal tarred road, the journey to Bosso from Kuros-Kawwa in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State would have lasted for less than an hour. Sadly, it took almost three hours to cover the 89 kilometer expedition to Bosso, with a stopover at Malam Fatori, the headquarters of Abadam local government of the state, after passing through sandy and wobbly pathways dotted by countless sand dunes.
This was beside the two and a half hours trip from Maiduguri to Kuros-Kawwa on a worn out road which was built in the 1970s.
That notwithstanding, the deputy governor mobilized a high powered delegation, including the Commissioners for Justice, Barrister Kaka Shehu; Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bashir Garbai; Agriculture, Usman Zanna; health, Dr. Salma Anas Kolo; Trade and Tourism, Dr. Asabe Vilita Bashir; animal and fisheries, Professor Kyari Sandabe among others and officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the journey.
The team met Nigerians waiting for opportunity to come back home as hundreds of them – including men, women and children – thronged to the Bosso village square welcome the team.
Secretary-General of Diffa, Malam Hassan Ardo, leading a delegation had, when he received the deputy governor at the Nigeria-Niger border at Malam Fatori, explained that 6,420 displaced persons crossed over to Niger from various entry points around Malam Fatori.
The Secretary General (an equivalent of secretary to the state government) who spoke through an interpreter, said out of the total number, about 1500 settled in Bosso even though some Nigerians interviewed said they are upto 4,000 squatting in the border community.
Ardo said most of the ‘refugees’ from Nigeria speak Kanuri and where sheltered in Bosso, Mamuri, Bulagana and Garin Amadu.
He said Niger’s president had also approved the distribution 300 tones of grains to the fleeing Nigerians.
In an emotional laden response, the deputy governor said Nigeria and indeed Borno State in particular will remain grateful to Niger for its magnanimity by giving protection and place of safety to Nigerians.
He said Governor Kashim Shettima specifically directed him to go to Niger to thank the government and the people, as prepare for Nigerians to return home.
Mustapha said hundreds of students and pupils are missing school, while children below the age of five have missed their immunizations.
The deputy governor said, “Come back home. Please come back, come home. There is no place like home.”
He said God in his mercy had listened to the prayers of Borno people which culminated in the gradual return of normalcy as well as the altruistic disposition of hundreds of youths who have taken over the streets, hunting the Boko Haram insurgents.
“The hunter (Boko Haram) is now the hunted. Before now, a single insurgent can hold over a hundred people to ransom but the trend has changed…the Boko Haram fighters are now on the run,” he said.
He said peace has returned by over 70 percent, pointing out that the state government, in collaboration with the federal government has beefed up internal security in border communities.
The deputy governor and members of his entourage had earlier administered polio vaccines to dozens of Nigerian children, distributed wrappers to mothers and told the husbands that tones of assorted food items have been deposited in Malam Fatori which will be distributed to them as soon as they got back home.
Daily Trust reports that though the Nigerians have expressed their willingness to return home, their faces tell a story of shock, fear, deprivation and frustration.
They said they left their houses without preparation, but thanked the Nigeriene government and its people for extending help to them.
Malama Salamatu Hussaini, 67 said she relocated to Malam Fatori with six of her children and was sheltered by one Buba Dillali.
One of the Nigerian refugees, Alhaji Abdu Ashigashuya said they will not return because soldiers do not differentiate between insurgents and innocent people while carrying out their operation.
The fact that some Nigerians have agreed to return from foreign lands calls for proactive measures by relevant authorities to address the underlying cause of the insurgency.