…2 million women, children displaced
From Gyang Bere, Jos
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region has claimed over 2000 lives.
The President also said that the insurgency has displaced over two million women and children.
Buhari made the disclosure yesterday during the graduation ceremony of Senior Executive Course 38 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State.
Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yomi Osinbajo, lamented that most of the displaced women and children currently in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) nationwide are malnourished.
He reeled out the challenges facing the nation to include the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency, herdsmen/farmers clashes, kidnapping for ransom, Shi’ite and Police clashes, pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta, and sabotage in the power sector.
“Over two million people have been displaced ,mostly children and women in the Northeast; some are in the IDPs camps nationwide, others are in their host communities. Most of the displaced persons are malnourished with orphans running to thousands.
“Also, farming has not taken place in most communities and villages in the Northeast for three years; some of the lands are occupied by Boko Haram terrorists, while over 2000 people have been killed by the dreaded group,” he said.
He said the Federal Government would empower the state governments to rehabilitate and reconstruct villages and communities that had been destroyed as a result of the insurgency.
He bemoaned the activities of armed robbers nationwide and directed security agencies to mop out illegal and small weapons, noting that they aid herdsmen/farmers clashes across the country.