Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Bama, Borno second largest town worst hit by Boko Haram, are to return home in phases, the state government has said.

Secretary to Borno State Government (SSG), Alhaji Usman Jidda said, on Tuesday, that the state government decided to allow the IDPs return to the town three years after they were sacked by Boko Haram after reviewing the security situation in the area.

“As part of Borno State Government’s declared intention and deliberate commitment to the restoration of full normalcy in all parts of the state, the State Security Council meeting held last Thursday 15th March, 2018 approved the return in phases of all IDPs from Bama,” Jidda announced at a press conference in Maiduguri.

He said the government has taken ‘careful and meticulous’ assessment of the overall security situation in Bama town and communities around the area. He said the reconstruction of public and private buildings by the State government informed the decision to return the IDPs who fled their homes in September 2014.

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“All IDPs who have been shortlisted to return, would be accompanied by their respective District, village and Wards Heads, and adequate security by not only our conventional security agencies like the Police, DSS and Army, but also by Vigilante Groups and Hunters,” he said.

He said the first phase of the resettlement has been designed to capture the essential personal data of prospective returnees for the purpose of easy identification and security clearance.

He also appealed to the Federal Government through the Presidential Committee on Northeast to commence the implementation of Bama Initiative to help the IDPs settle down in time.

The Bama initiative essentially seeks for the reconstruction of social infrastructures that were hitherto destroyed by insurgents in Bama Local Government.