Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has, over the weekend, disbursed and distributed N80 million and food items to 4,000 households in the newly resettled community of Malam-Fatori in Abadam Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

The beneficiaries, comprising women and children, are internally displaced persons (IDP) returnees who spent over a decade as refugees in Niger Republic after fleeing the Boko Haram attacks since 2014.

According to him, the disbursement and distribution exercise is to provide succour and help rebuild lives, restoring confidence and resilience among the returning refugees in the future.

Zulum said, “Each of the male heads of households received ₦20,000, along with a bag each of rice and maize and clothing materials, while the female heads of households also each collected the sum of ₦20,000 and a wrapper to wear.”

He explained that the support was prompted by the town’s difficult desert terrains with limited access to basic needs of life, stating, “The distribution of food items would significantly ease the refugees’ hardships and accelerate the ongoing resettlement process of Malam Fatori, located on the shores of Lake Chad.

“This is not just about disbursing funds or food items but about restoring hope by reassuring our people that even in their darkest moments, they are not forgotten,” he stated.
During the visit, he also inspected irrigation farms cultivated by returnees, where agricultural activities are emerging fast as a key livelihood restoration process.

He described the farms as symbols of resilience and optimism, pledging improved farming inputs and continued support to boost farmers’ productivity and food security in the Lake Chad region, comprising seven local councils.

Besides the Malam-Fatori resettlement support, similar assistance was extended to over 6,000 vulnerable persons in Bosso, Niger Republic, stating that this is in recognition of host communities that provided shelter to Nigerian refugees for about a decade.

Zulum also paid an unscheduled late-night inspection of Malam-Fatori, the council headquarters, to ascertain the firsthand recovery efforts of the state government.
Accordingly, markets were active with traders fully engaged, while social life was cautiously returning despite the massive displacement of IDPs and refugees for 16 years.

He also stopped at various locations to interact with traders and small business owners, assuring them that government support would extend beyond relief to include the empowerment of youths and women and access to capital to restore their livelihoods with dignity.

Additionally, Zulum donated operational vehicles and essential logistics to the 68 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Malam-Fatori to improve troop mobility, rapid response, and the patrol of key routes into the council headquarters.