Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno state Thursday called on unrepentant members of the Boko Haram sect to lay down their arms as his government was working to return all the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) back to their ancestral homes.
He stated that the Boko Haram insurgents should know that the IDPs who have returned or are willing to return to their communities are directly or indirectly parents or relations of the insurgents that are eager to return home and pick up their pieces to continue their normal life.
Zulum stated this in Ajiri village of Mafa local government area while addressing hundreds of the newly returned IDPs and recalled that in the last three weeks, government had resettled thousands of IDP households in the newly constructed 500 housing estates in Ajiri village.
The governor stated that his government will do everything possible to ensure all the returnees live a comfortable life in their respective communities.
He directed the commissioner of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RRR), Mustapha Gubio to immediately provide a standby generator to complement the solar energy borehole that provides portable drinking water to the villagers as well as embark on construction of shopping malls, hospital and a school in the community for the Ajiri returnee IDPs.
He said: “I am using this medium to call on Boko Haram sect to lay down their arms for peace to reign in our dear state and the country at large.
“All our IDPs are directly or indirectly parents or relations of these insurgents who are willing to pick up their pieces and continue their normal lives.
“I am happy to see you people living comfortably after your relocation from IDP camps to your ancestral home.
“As government, we will do everything possible to support you. We are going to provide Ajiri community with a befitting school, hospital and market stalls among other social infrastructures.
“I am appealing to all of you to continue pray for the restoration of peace and cooperate with the security agencies in the fight against terrorism,” Zulum said.
The governor thereafter proceeded to Dikwa amidst heavy down pour and inspected hundreds of hectares of farmlands dedicated for Fadama irrigation farming located in Dikwa along Gulumba road.
Zulum urges Boko Haram to lay down arms
