N/East humanitarian crisis defies FG’s capacity- Ndume

By Christiana Ekpa and Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Senator Ali Ndume (Borno south,APC) yesterday decried the worrisome state of security in the North East, saying the humanitarian crisis ravaging the area is the worst in the world.
Ndume who appeared in the plenary for the first time after resumption from his suspension stressed that the north east crisis defies the Federal Government’s capacity to tackle alone.
This was just as the Upper Chamber reaffirmed its commitment to addressing the security challenge in the North East thus urging its ad-hoc committee charged with investigating the state of security affairs in Zamfara early constituted last week to broaden their mandate to include the entire North East.
This was sequel to a motion by Senator Ndume on the worrisome state of security in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.
Ndume, while commending President Muhammadu Buhari on tje fight against insurgency in the north east by the relocation of Armed Forces Command to Borno on assumption of office in 2015 that led to the degrading of Boko Haram, expressed concern that the level of attack by the insurgent have escalated to worrisome level since the beginning of this year.
“In the year 2017, more than 357 civilians were killed during 55 attacks in the North East. The deadliest month was in August when the militant group killed 100 people, followed by November with 76 people killed already.
“Recently, 3 soldiers and a child were killed in Magumeri in Borno,
several civilians were killed in Madagali in Adamawa, and eight soldiers were killed in Sasawa in Yobe State,” he recounted.
Ndume also drew senate’s attention to the fact that up till date, 103 Chibok girls, 10 women from Askira/Uba and lately 3 staff of University of Maiduguri remaim in captivity.
He pointed out to the worrisome cases of suicide bombing in Borno and recently Mubi in Adamawa that killed 50 people and wounded several others which has continued to escalate.
“Further disturbed about the situation Ndume said that over 4.8 million people are affected by the crisis, while the estimated cost of destruction according to a UN agency report on the atrocities of the Insurgents is put at over $9billion.
“In Borno alone about 1.0million returning IDPs without anything to start are now scared of going back to their various towns and villages and therefore forced to remain in Maiduguri camps that are already crowded and over stretched, “ Ndume observed.
He therefore prayed the senate to among other measures invite the service chiefs to brief it on the worrisome state of security in a closed session.
In his contribution, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, while also expressing concern on the situation in the North East reminded the senate that there is an adhoc committee on ground to address the seeming security challenges in Zamfara State.
Ekweremadu suggested that the senate should accommodate the prayer by directing the committee extend its mandate to include the entire south east.
The Senate President Bukola Saraki in line with the suggestion urged the adhoc committee to report back to senate within five weeks.