Five suicide bombers kill 12 in Borno State

B’Haram, disputes turn 65.6m to refugees

Twelve persons were killed after five suicide bombers detonated their strapped Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) in Kofa community along Bama Road at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Kofa community is a herding and farming village in Borno State.

The state Police Commissioner, Damian Chukwu, confirmed the killings as the World Refugee Day was celebrated yesterday.Chukwu disclosed the killings in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Victor Isuku yesterday in Maiduguri.

Despite the claim by the government that it has suppressed the insurgents, they are still beating security strategies to kill innocent citizens in the country.
The statement reads: “Yesterday, Sunday, about 2030hrs, five female suicide bombers detonated IEDs strapped to their bodies in Kofa community. The attacked village is about eight kilometres from Maiduguri metropolis.”

He said the first suspect, detonated the explosives near a mosque, killing seven persons.“The second suicide bomber detonated an IED at a house, killing five persons, while two other suicide bombers detonated their explosives within the same vicinity and killed themselves.

“A total of 17 persons, including the five suspected bombers died, while 11 persons sustained injuries and were taken to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). The police Explosives Ordinance Department (EOD) team was also mobilised to the scene and normalcy has since been restored.”

According to the police, the multiple suicide bomb attacks occurred near Dalori II camp where 18000 displaced persons are taking refuge.The Spokesman of the North-East Zonal National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Abdulkarim Ibrahim also confirmed the attacks.

Meanwhile, the latest displacement figures launched by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) show that Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria, disputes in Syria and Iraq, as well as conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan have forced at least 65.6 million people to flee their homes.

According to the new figures, the number of people displaced worldwide continued to increase from an already historically high level, for the fifth year in a row.If the trend remains unchecked, international agencies expressed fear that the system protecting refugees will collapse.

“The historic high displacement figures must foster more dedicated work for political solutions, increase funding to meet humanitarian needs, and bring a larger willingness among all countries to take their share of the responsibility. If we fail, we will be faced with a more unstable world, where the alarming high displacement figures will only continue to increase,” Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said.

Although, the Federal Government has recorded some success in pushing back members of the Boko Haram group from its strong hold, the report shows that 40.3 million were internally displaced. According to figures from NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), 25.4 million people had sought refuge outside their own country.

While the number of people forced to flee has increased with more than 50 per cent over the last five years, up from 42.3 million in 2012, the Federal Government yesterday said it would continue to make provisions for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and migrants precipitated by crisis in the various camps scattered in Nigeria ‎in accordance with the mandate and principles of international protection.

“The richest and most stable countries from Europe to the U.S. do their uttermost to keep refugees away. At the same time, they are not adequately funding reception of refugees in poor host countries,” said Egeland.With Uganda receiving the largest number of new refugees last year, more than half a million people, Egeland noted that the refugee crisis continued unabated behind the walls and barriers Australian, U.S and European leaders have erected.

“It may have disappeared from their view, but remains a stain on our global conscience,” he added.The Federal Commissioner in charge of National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Sadiya Umar Farouk ,while presenting food items to inmates of the refugees camp in Nyanya Gwandara, Nasarawa State as part of activities to mark the World Refugee Day, reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting the people.

Farouk who led ‎representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the camp said the aim was to empathize with refugees and IDPs who have found themselves in circumstances not pleasant for humanity.

In his address, the UNHCR Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Jose Antonio Canhandula lamented the condition of the refugees which he said was caused by no fault of theirs. He called on the international community to show solidarity with their predicament.

Also, the Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, Dr Fatima Diasow, ‎assured that ECOWAS was doing everything within its powers to curtail the disturbing incidence of conflicts across the region.

Represented on the occasion by Alozie Amaechi, ‎Diasow who acknowledged their predicament further assured that ECOWAS was willing to partner UNHCR and other world bodies to address the sufferings of citizens caught in conflict situations across the region.

Earlier in her welcome address, the spokesperson of the refugees, Germaine Ukumu commended Nigeria for the show of love and provision for stranded African refugees, despite competing demands on lean resources owing to the government’s engagements in the fight against terrorism.