The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), has established a cottage shoe and an ICT center to fast track livelihood support for displaced persons in Borno.

Mr Alkasim Abdulkadir, the Commission’s Head of Media and Communication Strategy disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Maiduguri.

Abdulkadir said that the Federal Commissioner, Sen. Basheer Mohammed, stated this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, in his palace in Maiduguri on Tuesday.

He quoted Mohammed as saying that the commission would also distribute food and non-food items to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with a view to ameliorate their sufferings as well as inaugurate the shoe cottage industry and an ICT Business Center.

“These are businesses that have a multiplier effects on their immediate communities and will go a long way in reducing poverty. The scheme will target 225 beneficiaries”.

“We are aware of the difficulties the emirate has gone through in the last 10 years of the insurgency, many lives and properties have been painfully lost”.

“Equally tragic is the displacement and dislocation that families and entire communities have suffered, it is our sincere prayer and hope that peace and harmony return to Borno,”Mohammed was quoted as saying in the statement.

Responding, El-Kanemi lauded the commission over its humanitarian interventions, adding that the visit to the palace was a sign of respect for traditional institutions.

He decried the sufferings experienced by the people occasioned by the insurgency, but expressed confidence that the state would overcome its security challenges.

The monarch urged the commission not to relent in its efforts in providing care and protection to the IDPs and returnees, as millions of people needed life saving solutions.

“Some members of my emirate are in Kano, some fled to Niger, Cameroon and Chad Republics, your assistance of providing housing is what we need and will be a welcome development,”he added. (NAN)