Borno State Gov’t Set To Repopulate Malam Fatori Near Lake Chad
Malam Fatori town in Northeast Nigeria was deserted after Boko Haram's incursion in the area in 2014 but remained abandoned due to poor security conditions and ISWAP activities.
Authorities in Nigeria’s Northeast Borno State are set to commence resettlement of households in makeshift shelters constructed in Malam Fatori near Lake Chad and the border with the Niger Republic.
Babagana Zulum, the Governor of the State, visited Malam Fatori on Sunday, March 6 to inspect the reconstruction and rehabilitation projects including 1,000 temporary shelters designed to support the resettling of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees in the border towns of Bosso and Diffa in the Niger Republic.
According to the governor, 500 households will arrive before Ramadan fast in April 2022.
“This is the right time to resettle them back to their ancestral homes in a safe and dignified manner before the rainy season,” the governor said.
The returnees will also be supported with N100,000 cash assistance as part of what the state describes as a ‘participatory rebuilding approach’.
The state’s Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement ministry were said to have been instructed to rebuild five blocks of classrooms at a central primary school, a healthcare centre, and a Friday mosque in the town.
The State will also provide 20 Buffalo patrol vehicles to support the security network consisting of the civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), vigilantes, hunters, and the Army’s 68th Battalion.
Malam-Fatori, the headquarters of Abadam Local Government Area in northern Borno was abandoned in 2014 due to threat from Boko Haram and subsequent risk from the activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The ongoing conflict has displaced over two million people in the northeast and forced thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. Most of the IDPs are in Borno State, the epicentre of the crisis.
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