.Borno shuts Monguno IDP camp for rehabilitation
Kastina State Government has spent more than N10 billion to tackle insecurity in the state, in the last six months.
Commissioner for Information, Culture and Home Affairs, Dr Bala Zango, told newsmen, yesterday, in his office that the amount was used to purchase vehicles and related hardware for security agencies, noting that over N7 billion was spent on purchases alone.
Others include the recruitment, training and deployment of more than 1,500 security operatives, known as Katsina Security Watch Corps (KSWC), to local council faced with security challenges.
With the huge investment in the sector, he said, the state has witnessed significant reduction in security issues, especially crimes perpetrated by terrorists and kidnappers.
Zango, however, called on residents to join in tackling insecurity, as the matter was not supposed to be that of security operatives alone.
According to the commissioner, one way residents can do this is by coming forward with intelligence that will assist security agencies to work effectively.
He also called on newsmen to report security issues with facts and objectivity, as doing otherwise could dissuade investors from the state.
GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno State has closed the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp at Government Senior Science Secondary School (GSSSS), Monguno, for immediate rehabilitation.
According to the governor, closure of the Monguno IDP camp was to ensure the resumption of 2023/2024 academic session in the school.
Zulum, who announced the closure, yesterday, at Monguno, disclosed: “The inspection of the camp, was to assess the level of destruction by Boko Haram, and the prolonged use of the camp by displaced persons from Kukawa, Nganzai, Marte and Guzamala local councils of the state.”
He stated that over 15,000 IDPs would be relocated to the completed 1,000 housing units in Monguno township.
The governor added that the 1,000 houses were part of the shelter intervention that comprises 10,000 completed resettlement houses for returnees.
“Displaced persons from communities and other villages that attain relative peace will be returned,” he said, assuring that IDPs from Kekeno, Mile 90 and Yoyo communities would return next year.
Besides resettling the IDPs, Zulum pledged to provide “resettlement packages” for the ones willing to return to their liberated communities.
He noted that this would enable the returnees to pick up the pieces of their lives.
