Former Senate Leader and senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has commended the Federal Government and the Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, on what he described as the tangible gains of the refugee repatriation agreement that had enabled thousands of victims of Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) attacks to return home after years of displacement in Cameroon.
Ndume’s commendation follows the ongoing relocation and resettlement of Nigerian refugees, mostly Borno locals, who fled their communities at the height of insurgent violence, and had been living in Cameroon for over a decade.
Many of the returnees had taken refuge at the Minawao Camp and surrounding communities after their ancestral homes were overrun by terrorists.
The repatriation is anchored on a tripartite agreement involving the Federal Government, the Borno State government and the government of Cameroon, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The agreement, signed in 2017 in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, was designed to facilitate the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Nigerian refugees displaced by insurgency.
The pact was executed under the leadership of the then Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd), who led a high-level Nigerian delegation to Yaoundé.
The team included the former Governor of Borno State and current Vice President, Kashim Shettima. Since then, successive administrations at both federal and state levels have pledged to sustain the initiative, as security conditions improved in parts of the North-East geopolitical region.
