Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has led a delegation of Nigerian government officials to commence the repatriation of refugees who fled the Boko Haram crisis to Baga Sola in Chad Republic.
About 1,768 families comprising 7,790 people are set to be repatriated in the first batch of the exercise, reports Daily Trust.
Governor Zulum, along with the State Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu, and the Federal Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) was received by the Governor of the Lac Province, Saleh Haggar Tidjani in Baga Sola, yesterday.
Before launching the first batch of the repatriation, Zulum attended the signing of a tripartite agreement in Baga Sola between the governments of Nigeria, Tchad and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu, signed on behalf of Nigeria, Governor Saleh Haggar Tidjani for Chad, and Jerome Merlin, UNHCR’s Second Representative in Baga Sola, signed for the refugee agency.
Delivering his address at the signing-in ceremony, Zulum emphasised that only those that have voluntarily indicated interest in returning will be repatriated. The governor expressed gratitude to the government of Tchad for hosting thousands of Nigerians displaced by the crises in Borno.
Zulum’s delegation also comprises the Head of Chancery, Nigerian Embassy in N’Djamena, Abdulkadir Ibrahim Ghani; Member of Borno State House of Assembly representing Kukawa, Hon Karta Maina Ma’aji; Commissioners of Information and Local Government Affairs, Prof. Usman Tar and Sugun Mai Mele; and the Permanent Secretary Government House, Mustapha Ali Busuguma.
