Stories by Musa Umar Bologi
Abuja
United Nations Security Council Visiting Mission to Lake Chad Basin Region will today meet with Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo over its visit to the North east.
The UN Council had on Sunday visited the North to see some of the root causes of youths dragged to a life of terrorism.
Spokesperson and Head of Communications, UK Mission to the UN, Matt Moody, had said in a statement last month that on Day 5 of the UK Presidency, the Security Council will transfer to Maiduguri, Nigeria.
In Maiduguri, council met some local officials and civil society organisations before visiting an Internally Displaced Persons camps.
The delegation also had engagement with journalists in Maiduguri yesterday. The Council will also engage actors on the ground supporting national response efforts and visit selected affected populations.
The delegation led by UK Permanent Representative to the UN and the Security Council’s President for the month of March, Amb. Matthew Rycroft, is expected to meet the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Civil Society Organisations and Women’s Groups, in Abuja, today.
The visit is part of the Council’s mission under the UK Presidency, to the areas devastated by Boko Haram terrorists in the countries of the Lake Chad Basin – Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The Council had earlier visited Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The mission to Nigeria is aimed at enabling the UN body to get first-hand information on the various issues affecting the country. This will be the first time the UN Security Council is visiting Nigeria. With the on-going crisis in the Northeast and other challenges faced by the country, the delegation will use the mission to engage with federal and state authorities.
During the visit to Cameroun Rycroft said: “First of all, we came here in order to shine a spotlight on the situation in the Lake Chad Basin. We came to hear the individual stories of people involved, whether they are refugees or displaced people or other victims of Boko Haram.
“We stand with the government and the people of Cameroon, and the wider region, in tackling the scourge of terrorism. And in encouraging them to look broadly and deeply at the root causes of the set of crises going on here.
“Whether humanitarian, to do with development, to do with education, agriculture and so on,”.
UN has said that about 4.8 million people are in urgent need of food assistance and 5.1 million are predicted to be food insecure if not supported by the humanitarian community in 2017.
It added that an estimated 300,000 children in Borno alone will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next 12 months and up to 450,000 in total across Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, if adequate assistance is not received.
