3.3 million displaced in Nigeria – ECOWAS

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says various crises in Nigeria have increased the number of displaced persons in the country to 3.3 million.

Vice President, ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma, said this yesterday at a stakeholders’ workshop on the ‘Best Practices for Stabilization in West Africa’. 

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She said the sub-region needed to address the crisis of displacement. She said, “For instance, Burkina Faso has experienced an explosion in its forced displacement crisis because of militant Islamist group violence originating in Mali. Its current 1.2 million displaced population represents a nine-fold increase from 2019. 

“Additionally, violent attacks by Boko Haram in the northeastern Nigeria, have resulted in the displacement of 2.5 million Nigerians, whilst kidnappings, extortion and organised criminal attacks in the North West have displaced an additional 800,000 people.

“We need to find a way to return these communities to their homes safely. 

“It is against this backdrop that ECOWAS Commission, in partnership with development organisations and governments, has embarked on an ambitious journey of introducing interventions designed to stabilise conflict affected areas, address the root causes of insecurity, and set them on the path for sustainable development through recovery and building community resilience.” 

“In partnership with the German government, we’ve established the ECOWAS Fund for Regional Stabilisation and Development in fragile member states. 

“The objective of this programme is to stabilise conflict affected communities through provision of sustainable economic opportunities and essential services for conflict affected communities, construction or rehabilitation of key national infrastructure and capacity building for governance and security institutions.”