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Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum has commended the government and people of Niger Republic for hosting about 120, 000 refugees, from Borno, in the country’s northern region.
Zulum who visited the refugees at Diffa, capital of Diffa Province in Niger weekend for preparation towards ‘dignified’ repatriation and willing return of the refugees to Nigeria, said the Nigerien authority has proved their brotherliness.
Spokesman to the governor, Isa Gusau in a statement said the refugees, men, women and children, were among thousands of people that fled communities in the northern part of Borno to neighbouring Niger Republic in the wake of Boko Haram attacks on their communities between 2014 and 2015.
“The Governor’s visit to Niger was to contribute in arranging modalities towards the safe and dignified repatriation of the refugees to resettlement communities in Borno.
He said the repatriation move was a follow up to a high-level meeting between officials from Nigeria Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management as well as social development in Abuja about three weeks ago.
He disclosed that the meeting discussed willing return of Nigerian refugees in neighbouring Niger, Chad and a Cameroon.
“With that meeting in mind, Governor Zulum travelled to Bosso, Garin Wanzam and Tumur, all in Diffa province, to meet the refugees,” Gusau explained.
The international law of voluntary repatriation-1951 UN convention provides for refugees to be given choice on their repatriation. This means they cannot be forced to return to their country when they feel they are not secured.
