Osinbajo: Large area of Borno still not accessible
NEWS DIGEST–Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said a large area of Borno State is still not accessible to health care workers because of the activities of Boko Haram.
He also said many people in the state had fled to neighbouring countries.
Osinbajo, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, spoke in Abuja on Monday during a programme tagged Nigeria humanitarian response dialogue.
The VP said the occasion also served as an opportunity to celebrate the lives of 74 persons who died while trying to help people in distress.
However, he said the Federal Government had improved the country’s humanitarian response, which he said was poor before the present administration.
Osinbajo said, “The solemn nature of this occasion has laid to bare the huge losses we have incurred as a country and as a nation during the course of the needless insurgency that has erupted over the last 10 years in this country.
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“This government is working tirelessly to ensure that programmes and objectives related to the Nigeria humanitarian response see the light of the day. The humanitarian crisis in the six South-East states has intensified after eight years of violent conflict. The conflict caused wide-spread displacement, acute food and nutrition shortage, insecurity and serious human rights violations.
“A large area of Borno State remains inaccessible to humanitarian assistance. The security situation remains highly volatile, thereby causing mass displacement of people to neighbouring Lake Chad basin countries.”
He added, prior to this administration, the country was poorly rated in the area of humanitarian crisis response, hence making it one of the main cardinal points in our change agenda.
“Humanitarian crisis response has no immunity against corruption but the anti-corruption crusade has gradually changed the impression about Nigeria response to humanitarian crisis.”
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, said the FG in the past three years spent over N5bn to cater for the health needs of people affected by the activities of insurgents in the North-East.
According to Adewole, 888,868 persons have benefitted from the various service delivery points in the 25 accessible council areas in Borno.
