Michael Olugbode
More than 3,000 people are now trapped without food, water and shelter in the newly liberated Rann, the headquarters of Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State.
Indigenes of the area told journalists in Maiduguri, the state capital, that after the dislodgment of pockets of insurgents from the area that shares border with Cameroun Republic over a week ago by the Nigerian troops, the humanitarian workers have not been sighted in the area which have made over 3,000 people liberated from Boko Haram to face untold hardship.
One of those who spoke to journalists anonymously, said mostly affected are women and children who survived the onslaught in the area and are now taking refuge at Rann in Kala-Balge.
He said they are left without food or water, as there was no presence of officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) or Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to render humanitarian services with the area largely inaccessibility.
Speaking on the development to journalists, the state Commissioner for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Hon. Usman Zannah, who expressed concern over the plights of the newly liberated people, promised that state government is taking immediate measures to address the myriads of problems faced by the trapped citizens in Kala-Balge.
He said: “We just received a message that more than 3,000 people, mostly women and children are stranded after the liberation of Kala-Balge and other surrounding villages, but we have started mobilising people, including security operatives, SEMA officials and members of the civilian JTF to deliver relief materials to them as soon as possible.”
The Information Officer of NEMA, Mallam Abdulkadir Ibrahim, who also responded to journalists’ enquiries on fate of the people of Kala-Balge, said necessary arrangements and assessment had been put in place by the agency to render humanitarian assistance to the displaced persons.
