BY ABDULLAHI ISAH, Maiduguri
The United Nations, UN, and the Netherlands have expressed worry over the humanitarian challenges in Borno and other North East states ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The UN Under-Secretary on Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O’Brien and Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador John Groffen who spoke during a courtesy call on Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima at the Government House Maiduguri both said the Boko Haram insurgency has led to hunger, poverty and pushed many school-age children out of school.
O’Brien said the brutal war in the area has led to hunger and some humanitarian challenges. He said he was in Borno in continuation of his visit to the Lake Chad area to “assess the humanitarian situation” so as to do risk assessment of the challenge. “We
are dealing with the compound effect of what Boko Haram has done,” he said stressing that the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region especially the impact of Boko Haram on the economy of the people and education of the children would be one of the focal points of discussion at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey.
He called for lasting peace in the region as well as in Syria and other nations currently engulfed in crises, noting that about 165 states would be represented at the Turkey Summit.
He said that “the huge climate change challenge has also had a major effect on the people and their ability to survive. I know we can draw the attention of the world to what is happening here.”
Ambassador Groffen also said he was happy to be in Borno, the first visit since his assumption of duty in Nigeria. He said he was in the state to get the story he can tell the world “about the dire situation in Borno.”
Responding, the Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima described Boko Haram as worse than other international terror groups. “Boko Haram is worse than other terror groups in the world. It is worse than ISIS, Al Shabab or any groups.”
He said though Nigeria may have won the war against insurgency but that there is need to address the underlying causes of the crisis which he said include endemic poverty and educational backwardness.
“There is need to work out modalities to engage thousands of orphans and displaced youths hence we may be having more Boko Haram in future,” he warned.
