Latest news with #BornoState
Zawya
3 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Nigeria: How NEDC's projects are rebuilding lives, infrastructure in Northeast?
For decades the Northeast of Nigeria, particularly Borno State, has come under serious threat from the activities of Boko Haram and ISWAP. This challenge led to the collapse of infrastructure, like water supply, electricity supply, as well as the destruction of houses and cities, towns and villages. According to a resident of Maiduguri, Muntari Shariff, 'The Northeast especially Borno State is in hopeless state of infrastructural delay. Thousands of people have been displaced. To be candid, government alone can't do it alone.' Findings by Nigerian Tribune revealed that it was based on such premise that the Federal Government established the North East Development Commission (NEDC) in 2017. Since the establishment of the commission, it has been up and doing in order to bring succour to the people of the Northeast. It was gathered that several interventions by the commission aimed at bringing relief to the six states in the Northeast have been carried out. Even though, some are of the opinion that more interventions need to be done, there are a lot of successes have been recorded. NEDC's interventions so far Nigerian Tribune gathered that the commission has carried out a number of interventions in the Northeast region. Findings by Nigerian Tribune showed that in Konduga and Gwom in Borno State, the NEDC has constructed modern housing estates for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). For many who fled their villages due to the insurgency, these homes are the first step towards rebuilding family life and finding peace again. 'We have been living in camps for years. But now, we have a roof of our own,' said Bukar, a father of five, resettled in Gwom. The commission has also supported the repatriation of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, and is working closely with local authorities to help IDPs return to their ancestral communities. Also, healthcare infrastructure has received a major boost. For instance, at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), a new 40-room labour ward is now operational, easing the burden on maternity services. In addition, the commission has provided life-saving equipment and constructed additional blocks in UMTH, General Hospital, Eye and Dental Hospital, and the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Maiduguri. Meanwhile, hundreds of solar-powered streetlights have been installed across Maiduguri. Nightlife, once shut down by insecurity, is slowly returning. Markets now stay open for longer, and residents feel safer walking in their communities. The commission has made education a top priority, especially for children affected by the conflict. Schools destroyed during attacks have been rebuilt, thereby reopening the doors of learning for thousands. In Mafa, 14-year-old Amina said, 'They tried to stop us with fear, but now we are going back to school. It gives me hope.' To further improve the quality of education, the NEDC is training 600 Tsangaya and Islamiyya school teachers across the Northeast. A broader programme is also underway to train 100,000 teachers from the six states of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, and Taraba. To tackle rising youth unemployment, the NEDC has rolled out skill acquisition programmes. In partnership with the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC), young people have been trained in electricity installation and line work at the National Power Training Institute in Kainji. In Jere and Mafa, vulnerable farmers and women entrepreneurs have received over 1,000 water pumps, 400 cartons of herbicides, and 200 units each of spaghetti-making and grinding machines—giving many families a fresh start in micro-enterprise. Minister calls for collaboration Speaking during a visit to Borno State recently, the Minister of State for Regional Development, Uba Maigari Ahmodu, stressed the need for close collaboration with the Northeast Governors Forum to achieve the broader Northeast Stabilisation and Development Plan (NESDP). The minister noted that the Ministry of Regional Development will ensure adequate supervision of NEDC to achieve the goal to rebuild and stabilise the Northeast region after years of insurgency and economic disruption. The minister's delegation during the visit comprised the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on NEDC, Hon. Usman Zannah, and other committee members; the chairman of the NEDC board, Major General Paul C. Tarfa (rtd); the MD/CEO of the commission, Mohammed Goni Alkali, and other senior management officials who were part of the strategic meeting. Zulum's challenge to NEDC While welcoming the entourage, the Borno State governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, called on NEDC to prioritise projects that can provide lasting benefits and boost infrastructural development across the six states in the northeast region. The governor, was speaking at the Government House, when he received the expanded management and board of the NEDC led by Ahmodu. Governor Zulum listed security, dry inland ports, African Intercontinental Free Trade Zone, independent electricity supply, and road networks as some of the key priorities for the northeast. He said, 'I think the time has come for us to prioritise our projects. We have gone into more than 50 per cent of the lifespan of the NEDC. I am not saying that NEDC will collapse. What I mean by lifespan is the funding window allocated to the commission according to the act that established it. So, let's come up with what we can do to get maximum benefit from establishing the commission. 'Other commissions have come on board; we cannot afford to perform below them. This time around, we must have a yardstick. Otherwise, not only the minister, the chairman of the House committee, or the MD, but all of you are from the northeast; a time will come when we will call you out that there is nothing tangible to show within your tenure.' Zulum, however, assured the minister and the NEDC management of the governors' commitment within the Northeast to support the commission in achieving its mandate. Despite his demand, the governor also commended the NEDC for supporting the state with humanitarian aid, school projects, and other programmes that positively affect the lives of the people of Borno State and the region. Copyright © 2022 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Associated Press
18-05-2025
- Associated Press
Militant attack on 2 villages in northeast Nigeria kills at least 57, witnesses say
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A suspected militant attack on two villages in Nigeria left at least 57 people dead and at least 70 missing on Thursday, witnesses said Sunday, in one of the deadliest incidents in the country's conflict-ridden northeast this year. Abdulrahman Ibrahim survived Thursday's attack on two villages in Baga in Borno State and participated in the burial of the dead. He told The Associated Press that the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of the militant group Boko Haram gathered more than 100 residents of the neighboring villages of Mallam Karamti and Kwatandashi and marched them into the bush. Later on Saturday, 57 bodies were recovered there. A spokesperson for the Borno government said he could not confirm the casualty counts. The Nigerian military did not respond to a request for comment. According to Ibrahim, who is from Mallam Karamti, and another survivor from Kwatandashi who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, the villagers were accused of acting as informants for the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Although ISWAP has gained notoriety for targeting military personnel and assets, the JAS faction has increasingly resorted to attacking civilians and perceived collaborators and thrives on robberies and abductions for ransom. 'Without the capacity to attack the military like ISWAP, JAS is focused on terrorizing civilians,' said Malik Samuel, an expert on northern Nigeria's conflicts with nonprofit Good Governance Africa. The witnesses said burial of the victims was delayed because the military was unavailable to provide support in conducting searches for bodies. Most of the dead victims were found with their throats slit, but others had been shot, the locals said. 'There are probably more bodies because we had to stop further searches with soldiers out of fear of an ambush,' Ibrahim said. More than 70 are still missing, he said. The mass killing came during a week of intensifying violence in Borno. On Monday, ISWAP militants overran the 50 Task Force Battalion of the Nigerian Army stationed in Marte, seizing arms and ammunition after a deadly assault that killed several soldiers, according to videos shared on social media by soldiers who survived the attack. Following the attack on Marte, displaced people camped there fled to nearby Dikwa, a humanitarian hub where aid groups are pulling out due to international funding cuts. In a separate incident on Saturday afternoon, a roadside bomb detonated along the Maiduguri-Damboa road, the second such attack in a week. Three people died at the scene, and a fourth succumbed to injuries Sunday morning at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). More than 10 others were still being treated for injuries at the hospital, a local resident, Lawan Bukar Maigana, who has assisted the community in emergencies, said. Since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency has created a humanitarian disaster in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, with more than 35,000 people killed and 2.6 million others displaced over the last 15 years. Borno in Nigeria, its birthplace, is the worst-affected. They want to install an Islamic state across the four countries, with Nigeria as their main target. The country is West Africa's oil giant with more than 200 million people, divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north. The Nigerian government has claimed progress against the insurgency, but the militants continue to attack civilians and military and have expanded into other regions, including central Nigeria where the capital Abuja is located, according to experts and public records on counterterrorism.
Washington Post
18-05-2025
- Washington Post
Militant attack on 2 villages in northeast Nigeria kills at least 57, witnesses say
ABUJA, Nigeria — A suspected militant attack on two villages in Nigeria left at least 57 people dead and at least 70 missing on Thursday, witnesses said Sunday, in one of the deadliest incidents in the country's conflict-ridden northeast this year. Abdulrahman Ibrahim survived Thursday's attack on two villages in Baga in Borno State and participated in the burial of the dead. He told The Associated Press that the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of the militant group Boko Haram gathered more than 100 residents of the neighboring villages of Mallam Karamti and Kwatandashi and marched them into the bush. Later on Saturday, 57 bodies were recovered there.
Free Malaysia Today
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
At least 23 farmers, fishermen killed by rebels in Nigeria
Nigeria has been grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeast. (Boko Haram/AFP pic) MAIDUGURI : At least 23 farmers and fishermen were killed and others abducted by suspected Islamist rebels in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state this week, security sources and local residents told Reuters. Nigeria has been grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeast, primarily driven by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province. The latest attack happened in the village of Malam Karanti on Thursday morning, the security sources and residents said. A spokesman for Nigeria's army did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment. Local resident Sani Auwal said by phone that rebels had gathered farmers and fishermen near the village and killed 23 people, many of them bean farmers. They spared an elderly man who later alerted the community, he said. Another local resident Usman Ali said the community had tried to recover the bodies of those killed but had been chased back by the rebels. Last month Borno's governor acknowledged that Boko Haram had renewed attacks and kidnappings in the state, reversing previous gains by security forces.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Children die as USAID aid cuts snap a lifeline for the world's most malnourished
DIKWA, Nigeria (AP) — Under the dappled light of a thatched shelter, Yagana Bulama cradles her surviving infant. The other twin is gone, a casualty of malnutrition and the international funding cuts that are snapping the lifeline for displaced communities in Nigeria's insurgency-ravaged Borno state. 'Feeding is severely difficult,' said Bulama, 40, who was a farmer before Boko Haram militants swept through her village, forcing her to flee. She and about 400,000 other people at the humanitarian hub of Dikwa — virtually the entire population — rely on assistance. The military restricts their movements to a designated 'safe zone,' which severely limits farming. For years, the United States Agency for International Development had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria, helping non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people. But this year, the Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world. Programs serving children were hit hard. Bulama previously lost young triplets to hunger before reaching therapeutic feeding centers in Dikwa. When she gave birth to twins last August, both were severely underweight. Workers from Mercy Corps enrolled them in a program to receive a calorie-dense paste used to treat severe acute malnutrition. But in February, Mercy Corps abruptly ended the program that was entirely financed by USAID. Two weeks later, one of the twins died, Bulama said. She has no more tears, only dread for what may come next. 'I don't want to bury another child,' she said. 'Very traumatic' Globally, 50% of the therapeutic foods for treating malnutrition in children were funded by USAID, and 40% of the supplies were produced in the U.S., according to Shawn Baker, chief program officer at Helen Keller Intl and former chief nutritionist at USAID. He said the consequence could be 1 million children not receiving treatment for severe malnutrition, resulting in 163,500 additional deaths per year. For Helen Keller Intl, its programs in Bangladesh, Nepal and Nigeria have been terminated. 'It is very traumatic,' said Trond Jensen, the head of the United Nations humanitarian office in Maiduguri, Borno's capital, of the funding cuts, noting that other donors, including the European Union, have taken similar steps this year. 'One of the things is the threat to the lives of children.' UNICEF still runs a therapeutic feeding center nearby, which now supports Bulama's surviving baby, but its capacity is stretched. It is turning away many people previously served by other aid groups that have pulled out due to funding cuts. Intersos, an Italian humanitarian organization, has the only remaining facility providing in-patient services for malnutrition in Dikwa, treating the most perilous cases. Its workers say they are overwhelmed, with at least 10 new admissions of seriously malnourished children daily. 'Before the USAID cut, we made a lot of progress,' said Ayuba Kauji, a health and nutrition supervisor. 'Now my biggest worry is high mortality. We don't have enough resources to keep up.' Intersos was forced to reduce its staff from 30 to 11 in Dikwa after the USAID freeze. Its nutrition and health facilities now operate solely on support from the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund, a smaller pot of money contributed by a few European countries. That funding will be finished in June. The crisis is equally acute in Maiduguri, where the economy is reeling from massive terminations of aid workers. At another Intersos-run facility, 10 of the 12 doctors have left and four nurses remain, with 50 new admissions of malnourished children per week. 'It used to be far less,' said Emmanuel Ali, one of the remaining doctors. Beyond nutrition The effects of the funding cuts extend far beyond nutrition. At the International Organization for Migration's reception center in Dikwa, thousands of displaced families and those escaping Boko Haram captivity are stranded. There are no new shelters being built and no support for relocation. 'Before, organizations like Mercy Corps built mud-brick homes and rehabilitated damaged shelters to absorb people from the IOM reception center,' said one official at the center, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the situation. 'Now, that has stopped.' Jensen, the U.N. humanitarian head in Maiduguri, said, 'sadly, we are not seeing additional funding to make up for the U.S. cuts.' He warned that vulnerable people could turn to risky ways of coping, including joining violent groups. A global problem The crisis in Nigeria is part of a larger reckoning. According to Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Mercy Corps' vice president for policy and advocacy, 40 of its 62 U.S.-funded programs with the potential to reach 3.5 million people in Nigeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Lebanon and Gaza have been terminated. In Mozambique, where jihadist violence in the north has displaced over a million people since 2017, humanitarian organizations face steep shortfalls with 'devastating' effects on the needy, said Frederico João, chairman of the forum of NGOs in the region. More widely, the USAID funding cut compromises Mozambique's health sector, especially in HIV/AIDS care, said Inocêncio Impissa, cabinet spokesman. The government now seeks alternative funding to prevent total collapse of health systems. Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, contributed to this story. ___ For more on Africa and development: The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
