Three Hundred and twenty-five persons residing at Internally Displaced Persons settlements in Bama, headquarters of Bama Local Government Area of Borno State will soon have houses of their own.
This followed the handing over of 325 two-bedroom houses to the Borno State Government for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bama, by a global humanitarian organisation, Mercy Corps, in collaboration with the European Union (EU).
A statement on Friday in Maiduguri by the Communication Specialist of Mercy Corps, Grace Oguntade, said a Team Leader of Mercy Corps, Mr. Raiz Khan, who represented the Country Director, Ndubisi Anyawu, at a handover ceremony, noted that the houses were constructed under the European Union-funded Borno Maida – Early Recovery Programme.
“Mercy Corps Nigeria provided vital support to beneficiaries who have lost their homes as a result of the insurgency in Northeast Nigeria. Mercy Corps Nigeria had learned about the precarious existence of the beneficiaries and their urgent need for shelter following the devastating impact of the insurgency in Bama in 2018.
“Subsequently, the organisation conducted a needs assessment to ascertain how many displaced families were affected and were most at risk. Findings from the assessment showed that many houses and community structures were damaged while some were completely destroyed.
“Working closely with Community Resilience Groups (CRG), the community members were engaged and a suitable shelter prototype for their homes was agreed upon – two rooms and a veranda for 325 of the most vulnerable returnee households.”
Also speaking at the occasion, the representative of the EU, Mrs Cecile Tassin-Pelzer, said that the project was an EU-funded project which started in 2017 to support recovery of up to 200,000 returnee IDPs. He said that similar 325 shelters were handed over in Gwoza town of the state to the IDPs.
“The 650 permanent shelters constructed in Gwoza and Bama, equipped with solar systems will go a long way to restore hope and safety to the people whose property were destroyed by the insurgents”.
A representative of the Borno State Government and permanent secretary, Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Abba Yusuf, commended the EU and Mercy Corps for the intervention.
While noting that housing was one of the critical infrastructure required, Yusuf called on the EU and other development partners to key into the state’s 25-year development plan and 10-year strategic transformation agenda which he described as a road map and vision for a better Borno State.
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