Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, on Thursday in Abuja, met with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, behind closed doors over the planned repatriation of Borno State refugees in Cameroon.
Hundreds of refugees fled to Cameroon following attacks by insurgents six years ago.
Governor’s spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, said the meeting was a follow up to Zulum’s series of meetings with Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons and United Nations High Commission for Refugees, (UNHCR), among other stakeholders.
The meeting discussed the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had the mandate to facilitate the repatriation through diplomatic channels, hopefully in January 2021.
The meeting was attended by Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Ambassador Baba Ahmad Jidda.
More than 60,000 Nigerian refugees, the majority from Borno and some from Adamawa State were believed to be in Minwao camp in Cameroon, which Zulum had visited and supported with social protection relief.
The governor had approved ongoing construction of thousands of houses in which repatriated refugees would be permanently resettled in safe communities.
Zulum was also in the Niger Republic and the Republic of Chad, where Borno citizens lived as refugees.
In both countries, the governor authorised and supervised the distribution of food items and cash relief to thousands of families.
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