Stand and defend your communities, be courageous and resilient, Governor Zulum urges Dikwa residents

By Madu Mohammed, Maiduguri

The Borno state Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum had on Friday paid a sympathy and resilience building visit to Dikwa town of Dikwa local government area of the state 4 days after Boko Haram attack on the town.
with an appealed on them not to leave their ancestral homes.

The governor who performed the Jumaat (Friday Prayers) in Dikwa urged the residents to be resilient as Maiduguri can not accommodate over 500 thousand people from Dikwa alone talk less of Gubio, Monguno, Damasak among others towns.

While addressing the residents of the area at the Dikwa Central Mosques, shortly after the prayers and Dikwa motor park separately, Governor Zulum said ” Dikwa is your ancestral home, you should not allow anybody to send you leaving. It is surprising that over 500 thousand people, only 20 people with 6 gun trucks can chase you away from your ancestral home”.

“Dikwa is a big town, if you leave, Maiduguri will not accommodate you, so you should stand up and defend your communities. You have over 300 members of the CJTF in this town but they are all useless,, as they can’t defend your people “, he added.

He said ” after the sttack, i was in Abuja, where i met President Buhari and he assured me that he will not allow the repeat of the ugly incident and that no inch of our teritory will be allow to fall in the hands of the insurgents”.

He urged them to continue to be prayerful for the restoration of peace and always stand and raise up, stand and defend their communities and assured them that more areas will be open up for them to have acess to their farmland..

Governor Zulum also visited the headquarters of the Nigerian Army Super camp 9, 81 Task Force Division, some parts of the Shehu of Dikwa palace, Primary Health Facility, Modu Kaza and Alhaji Bashir IDP camps,UN humanitarian hub were burnt down.

Speaking in an interview with journalists in Dikwa shortly after the inspections, the governor promised to rebuild all the structures burnt down by the insurgents.

Our correspondent gathered that 9 pregnant women delivered while fleeing along Dikwa Ajiri road. Three aged women were said to bunt to dead at the Modu Kaza IDP camp.

A resident of Dikwa, Ibrahim Bulama said ” the insurgents who came in 6 gun trucks painted with mud at about 5;30pm on Sunday look control of the town for 17 hours until they left on Tuesday at about 10!30 before leaving they gathered people by the road side and preached to them and even distributed money to teenagers and aged people.”.

” The insurgents who also gave money to some kids who direct them to the houses of humanitarian aid workers abducted four workers belonging Inter source”he added.

It could be recalled that the insurgents attacked Dikwa 4 times in recent times with first on 30th January 2021, 20th February, 1st March and 2nd March, 2021. .

Save the Children donates 3 Ambulances to Yobe Health Centres.

By Baba Saleh, Damaturu 

An International Non governmental organisation, Save the Children has on Thursday donated three Ambulances to health centres in Yobe state.

The project was supported by the European Union through its early recovery from conflict and resilience building programme in the state.

In her remarks during the official launching and handing over of the vehicles, Save the Children Country Director, Mercy Gichuhi noted that the objectives of the programme were meant to enhanced state government capacity to oversee and strengthen its social protection system to address basic needs in addition to increased state and community capacity to facilitate reconciliation and social cohesion.

According to her other objective was that “vulnerable households and communities in Yobe are more resilient to recurrent shocks and have diversified livelihoods, through effective support for market recovery, skills development and enhanced state capacity to provide technical assistance”

She said the European Union has support the programme with financial injection of E 10, 840,033 Euros. 

She added that “The 42 months’ project is implemented in partnership with the Yobe State Government and development partners- International Alert, CISLAC, and LHI”

While commending Save the Children for the gesture, the Yobe state commissioner for health Dr Muhammad Lawan Gana represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Hamidu M Alhaji stated that the administration of Governor Mai Mala Buni has made several commitments with regards to maternal and child health. 

MSF treats 2,260 rural children with Malaria in Borno

By Musa Askira, Maiduguri

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) also known as Doctors Without Borders, has treated 2,260 children with malaria in Dusuman and Zabarmari villages near Maiduguri within the past six months.

A statement by the MSF Field Communication Officer, Mr Abdulkareem Yakubu, said the affected children were attended to by the MSF’s mobile team.

“Between mid-August and December 2020, MSF’s mobile team provided a total of 6,881 consultations for children living in villages outside Maiduguri.

“MSF staff tested 6,463 children for malaria and treated 2,260 children for the disease, referring 18 of them to hospital.

“The team also treated 71 children for severe acute malnutrition and 190 children for moderate acute malnutrition,” Yakubu said.

Yakubu said that MSF has been using various measures like training of some community members to carry out rapid malaria test and malnutrition screening as well as application of appropriate medication in hard-to-reach areas to ensure access to healthcare delivery to children in such areas.

He said that where a child situation is considered serious after test and screening in the rural areas, the child is referred to MSF hospital in Maiduguri.

MSF has been operating in Borno, particularly in areas affected by insurgency since 2014.