Political Briefs
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BUKOLA Saraki, senate president, has urged security agencies in the country not to treat the rumours that Boko Haram terrorists were recruiting members from Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps in the North East with levity but to urgently investigate the issue to unravel those behind the menace, if any.
In a statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his special adviser on media and publicity, Saraki said it had become necessary for the intelligence outfits to take such rumours seriously with the aim of curtailing the untoward development.
“Seeing that ISIS has been recruiting members from European refugee camps, and the Kenyan government recently had to shut down the world’s largest refugee camp because Al-Shaabab was using the place to train and recruit young people as extremists, it is important that we take the rumours about Boko Haram’s recruitment from IDP camps seriously,” he said.
The Senate President further reiterated his call for a more holistic investigation of alleged diversion of materials meant for the IDPs recently. He commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for investigating and arresting a contractor who allegedly diverted 60 trucks of grains allocated to IDPs in Borno State by the federal government.
He said in order to secure aid and funding from international partners, there was need for a better coordinated response by the federal government to the situation in the North East. “What is clear right now is that we cannot do this alone. This is why we need to ensure that we put everything that we can in place to ensure that the international community is involved at maximum capacity,” Saraki said.
On the arrest of the contractor, the Senate President denounced the actions of individuals who were attempting to enrich themselves off the plight of the IDPs, stating that it was unconscionable for anyone to attempt to defraud millions of displaced Nigerians in the North East, already on the verge of becoming malnourished.
“I have been to the zone twice in the past 14 months and I have experienced firsthand that the IDPs need as much food and health supplies as they can get. It is utterly immoral for someone to withhold food, in an attempt to enrich him, while women and children are starving,” Saraki said.
— Aug 22, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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