President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, on Saturday in Mafa town, Borno State, commissioned a combined number of 804 houses for the resettlement of displaced members of the Ngarannam community and neighbouring villages.
Although the project is for 804 houses, a total of 564 were completed.
The 804 houses were houses by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Borno State Government.
Borno State Government is building 304 houses from which 204 were completed with 100 ongoing, while the UNDP has 500 units of houses funded through a Regional Stabilisation Facility (RSF) from which 360 were completed while 140 were ongoing.
The UNDP’s housing estate, designed with a health centre, police post, school and market, was for the resettlement of Ngarannam community, while Borno’s houses are for resettlement of a number of villages neighbouring Ngarannam.
From both projects, a total of 564 houses were completed out of the combined 804 targeted by Borno Government and the UNDP.
The UNDP had, in July 2019, developed a Regional Stabilisation Facility (RSF) with support from Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands and the European Union (EU).
The RSF was created to facilitate the implementation of a Regional Strategy for the Stabilisation, Recovery & Resilience of areas affected by Boko Haram attacks around the Lake Chad Basin made up of communities in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The RSF contributes towards the restoration of security and relief to communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency.
Ngarannam community in Mafa was attacked and destroyed by Boko Haram some years back, forcing community members to become displaced.
Chief Host, Governor Zulum said Borno was highly indebted to the UN and other humanitarian and development partners for their enormous support.
