More than 2, 000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Guzamala extraction living in Bakassi IDP Camp in Maiduguri have returned to their homeland in Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State.
According to a tweet on the official handle of the Nigerian Army, @HQNigerianArmy, the Theatre Commander, OpLafiyaDole, Maj Gen. Rogers Nicholas led the IDPs on their journey home.
Receiving the returnees, the Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation & Resettlement, Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara, described the IDPs’ resolve to return home as a welcome development while assuring them of government’s support.
In his own comments, Nicholas assured them of adequate protection while they resettle, adding that “Operation Last Hold had been inaugurated in the theatre to operationally cover the locality and other communities.”
He further assured them that the military had reinforced security in the locality and that the traditional farm clearing to declare the farming season open had already been conducted in Gudumbali.
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The Theatre Commander used the opportunity to call on well-meaning Nigerians and non-governmental organisations to support the returnees with farming implements and other relief materials to enable them settle back into their respective communities.
Speaking at the flag off of the movement at Bakassi IDP Camp, Nicholas noted that it had been the earnest desire of the COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai that the IDPs who were willing should return home to begin a normal life.
He disclosed that the modalities for the return of the IDPs were jointly worked out by the Theatre Command, the Borno State Government and the Guzamala Local Authorities.
The over 2, 000 IDPs, making up a total of 378 households are the first batch of IDPs who willingly expressed their desire to return to their communities, according to the tweet.
