Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum was in Bosso, a border town in Niger Republic on Sunday, to visit citizens of Borno State who were displaced by flooding.
According to his aide, the citizens were residents of Malam-Fatori, headquarters of Abadam Local Government in the northern part of Borno State along the shores of Lake Chad. Malam-Fatori is close to Bosso in Niger Republic.
Recall that for years, Nigerians and Nigeriens from the border areas often move in and out of the border towns for social, trade and cultural trade purposes.
Around 2013 and 2014, many Nigerians from Abadam, Monguno and a number of the 10 LGAs in northern Borno, took refuge in Bosso and lived there for seven years, fleeing from attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on Nigeria’s side of the border.
Zulum has since becoming Governor in 2019 travelled to different parts of Niger Republic on about 10 occasions, and all visits were for humanitarian assessments and interventions.
As an outcome of Zulum’s visits, thousands of refugees returned from Bosso and were resettled in their ancestral communities mostly in northern Borno.
A number of them were resettled in Malam-Fatori early this year (2022) which was occupied by Boko Haram for seven years since 2014 before it was recovered by the military.
Zulum was in Malam-Fatori at different times supervising reconstruction works, as citizens who returned were gradually picking the pieces of their lives until a recent flood said to have been caused by excessive recharge around Lake Chad, this year.
The Governor addressed the victims (Malam-Fatori’s residents) taking refuge in Bosso.
“We are here to sympathize with you over the flood disaster that has affected you. Many of you lost personal belongings. Insha Allah, Borno State Government will support you and we will return you to your community as soon as the water recedes” Zulum said.
The Governor thanked officials of Niger Republic for always welcoming Nigerians from Borno State in hours of distress.
Zulum to President Bazoum Mohammed of Niger Republic and Governors in charge of provinces neighbouring communities in Borno State.
… Governor Meets Multinational Forces
Meanwhile, during his trip to Bosso, Governor Zulum interfaced with soldiers of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
The soldiers were under Sector 3 of the MNJTF.
The Governor interacted with the sector’s Commander, Brig Gen AbdulSalam Abubakar and paid tributes to troops for their huge sacrifices.
Zulum while speaking the MNJTF commander, expressed gratitude to Presidents of Lake Chad countries deploying soldiers to the Multinational Joint Task Force.
He praised President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, and Presidents of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon for their relentless commitments to the fight against insurgents in their countries while the Governor returned to Maiduguri on Sunday night after the humanitarian visit.