- FG to distributes items seized by Customs to IDPs, liberated towns
Senator Iroegbu and Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
The Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, wednesday said the people of the state were saved from extinction by the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at last year’s general election.
This is coming as the federal government disclosed that all the goods seized by the Nigerian Customs would be distributed to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), mostly to those returning to the liberated towns in parts of the North-east.
The governor, who claimed that had the result gone otherwise the people would have fled from the state by now and this would have left the state deserted, called on the people to show their dissatisfaction towards those politicians who abandoned them at the peak of the crisis.
Speaking in Hausa at thecommencement of distribution of relief materials in Maiduguri by the National Logistics Committee on Distribution of Relief Materials, Shettima said: “The politicians who left us to our troubles in the last five years only to come back when peace has returned to the state to tell us that Jonathan’s administration was better than the present should be stoned just like the Satan is stoned at the Kaaba.”
Earlier, the Presidential Committee on the Distribution of Relief Materials to the IDPs, said that the goods seized by the Nigerian Customs would be distributed to mostly the persons returning to the liberated towns in parts of the North-east.
The Chairman of the Committee, ACG Sanusi Usman, disclosed this yesterday when he led other members to visit the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, at the Military Command and Control Centre (MCC), Maiduguri, Borno State.
Usman said that the committee was constituted to ensure that the materials were well distributed to the where they are needed, especially to those villages where people are returning.
According to him, the aim was to encourage people to return to the liberated towns and ensure that those who have returned are not in lack of the basic necessities of life.
He said: “It was proposed that all the seized goods should be distributed to the IDPs. The purpose is to ensure that this platform created by the President is well distributed to the affected areas and not only to the IDPs but mostly to the villages so that the people can go back to their villages.
“We have found out from our experience from the visit to Yobe State that there is no need to concentrate on the IDPs but mostly to the villages as most of them are increasingly returning to their communities. Its in this state that many saw the devastation of Boko Haram and were moved.
“We assure that these products ceased will be distributed accordingly as we have done in Adamawa and some to Edo State. In Yobe State, we went to Buni Yadi where live is returning to normal. Borno State is very significant because we have about 10 border posts,” he added.
Responding, Buratai commended the federal government for what he described as the “laudable initiative to make this available for the affected people.”
According to him, those that are in need and deprived by Boko Haram of their livelihood would be catered for through the Committee’s efforts.
He noted that the work of the committee will also be complementary to the operations of the military to bring life back to the liberated areas.
“These are people that have been displaced by Boko Haram for a long time and this approach will help them settle back to their villages. This will also assist the military in our operations as when people settle down it will help us to quickly move to the other areas of operation.
“So far, the distribution has been going on smoothly and it will encourage people to go back to their hamlets and villages. Also, the issues of medical supply will be useful to them as well as building materials that will make them to settle down quickly. I commend President Muhammadu Buhari for all he is doing to ensure that Boko Haram menace is brought to an end,” he said.
