Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno State has stated that approximately 3.2 million people have been displaced due to the Boko Haram insurgency over the past seven years in Borno.
The governor disclosed this statistic during the flag-off ceremony of eight projects, including a school, clinic, mosque, sports ground, staff quarters, and a charity office, to be executed by the Qatar Charity Foundation in Maiduguri.
Expressing gratitude for the foundation’s choice of Borno State as a project beneficiary, Governor Zulum also highlighted the devastating impact of the Boko Haram insurgency, resulting in significant loss of lives and property in the state.
- “We have identified a total of over 100,000 orphans resulting from the Boko Haram crisis. These figures are the official ones; the unofficial figures are even higher than this.
- “In the past 7 years, we had about 3.2 million displacements, with about 50 per cent being resettled and about 1.2 million still in the IDP camps.
- “432 health centres were destroyed, 900,000 houses were destroyed and over 5,000 classrooms were destroyed.
- “What you are doing today will, Insha Allah, have a positively impactciety. On behalf of the people and government of Borno State, I want to express my appreciation to the Foundation for this initiative,” Gov. Zulum said.
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Gov. Zulum further disclosed that he has approved 2.5 hectares of land to Qatar Charity Foundation for the projects, adding that he had directed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Malam Bukar Tijjani, to grant express approval for all requests made by the foundation.
- “Be assured that the government of Borno State, under my leadership, will collaborate with you to ensure the success of this project,” He assured the foundation.
On his part, Hamdin Bin-Abdul, representative of the foundation, said that the group’s humanitarian services would be expanded to cover the 27 local government areas of the state.
Abdul said that the foundation would work in several sectors including water resources, social housing, economic empowerment, health, education, and social services.
- “It gives us great pleasure to execute projects here in Borno. We thank the governor for all the support, Insha Allah, we will use this centre to cover all the local governments in Borno State,” he said.
