80,000 Nigerian Refuges In Cameroon To Return

The Federal Government has, signed a tripartite agreement with the United Nations High Commission for Refugee, UNHCR, and the Republic of Cameroon for the return of the refugees who fled for safety.

The Nigerian government wants about 80,000 Nigerians displaced to Cameroon by the Boko Haram insurgency to return.

The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Muhammad Sidi, disclosed this when an African Union (AU) Humanitarian Mission visited the headquarters of the agency at the weekend. The AU mission was led by Aisha Abdullahi, its Commissioner for Political Affairs.

He said there were about 80,000 displaced Nigerians currently taking refuge in Cameroon and that the federal government has been making efforts to cater for all their basic needs.

Over a million Nigerians were displaced from the north-east by the insurgency with majority of them in different internally displaced persons, IPDs, camps within Nigeria.

Mr. Sidi said the federal government and governments of states affected by the insurgency, United Nations organisations, international non-governmental organisations and the private sector had done a lot in the past four years to manage large numbers of internally displaced persons in the North East.

“We have moved from the emergency response stage to recovery and resettlement of the IDPs,” he said.

He urged the visiting Commissioner to use her good offices as Commissioner Political Affairs of the African Union to seek for more assistance and support for the affected persons and the states.