About 22 Boko Haram members have been discovered by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) among Nigerians deported from Cameroon.
The returnees were settled at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in Mubi, Adamawa, state.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), director general of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi, disclosed this at the 18th safe schools initiative technical committee meeting yesterday in Abuja.
Sidi said that the Boko Haram members were identified with a peculiar mark on their backs among the 12,000 Nigerians deported from Cameroon residing at the IDPs camp in Mubi.
He added that 90 per cent of the deported persons were from Borno state
“The Camerounian government dumped 12,000 Nigerians at Mubi and we had to move them to transit camps and even open more camps to accommodate them.
“Ninety per cent of these returnees are from Borno State with a lot of Boko Haram elements among them.
“We arrested 22 of them yesterday, who were actually planning an attack, they were identified with a mark inscribed on their backs with hot iron in form of tattoos. The mark on their backs indicates that they are ready to die,’’ Sidi said.
He noted that there were 23 residential camps in Borno State and that the state government planned to open more as the number of displaced persons was increasing.
Sidi commended the Adamawa team of the Safe School Initiative, having recruited 71 teachers to scale up education in IDPs’ camps.
He further urged other state governors in the North-East to show commitment, noting that the safety of the people needed to be guaranteed before the team could rebuild the schools that were destroyed by insurgency.
Baba Kalli the desk officer for safe school initiative from Borno state, in his address, said almost all the schools in the state had been occupied by IDPs.
Kalli said NEMA had taken over the catering for 23 camps but that the problem persisted as population of the IDPs kept increasing.
While thanking donor agencies for their assistance so far, Kalli solicited for more assistance for all Borno indigenes.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed what it will take to utterly destroy the Boko Haram insurgents. The president who met with top Chadian officials on Thursday, August 20, said he believed the end of the insurgency is near, but that to crush the vicious sect completely Nigeria and Chad must unite their efforts and be prepared to make more sacrifices.
In his address, the Chadian contingents led by Mousa Faki Mahamat, the Chadian minister of foreign affairs, Buhari said: “we will sustain our effort and the insurgents will be defeated soon,” adding that improved logistics and equipment of Nigerian troops boost their morale and will serve as guarantee of their success in fight against Boko Haram in the nearest future which is in sight.
