Boko Haram: ECOWAS parliament ends three-day visit to North-East

A delegation of the Economic Community of West Africa Parliamentarian on Sunday concluded a three-day visit to the North East in a renewed attempt to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The Team Leader, Sadiq Ibrahim, told newsmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, that the team was on a fact finding mission jointly conducted in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency.
He explained that the visit had availed the team the opportunity to meet with displaced persons, stakeholders, authorities and humanitarian actors, noting that it would enable them to present informed recommendations to the commission.
Ibrahim disclosed that ECOWAS parliament would adopt a legal frame work to assist member states on ways to tackle displacement and stateless issues as well as provide durable solution to the problems in the sub-region.
The team leader revealed that the team had visited Internally Displaced Persons camps at Michika, Madagali, Gwoza, Banki, Yola and the Maiduguri rehabilitation centres in Adamawa and Borno States.
He said: “The UNHCR/ECOWAS Parliament joint mission to the northeast is being conducted within the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding, signed on 5th October, 2016.
“This cooperation frame work enables joint initiatives and activities on issues of common interest, such as IDPs, refugees, stateless persons and asylum seekers.
“The MoU also encourages ECOWAS member states to mainstreaming the issues in their respective human rights advocacy and promotion.”
While commending the media for effective coverage of the humanitarian crisis, the team leader tasked journalists to be accurate, balanced and objective in their reportage.
Halima Aliyu, a Member of Parliament, Niger Republic, said ECOWAS was committed to providing comprehensive solution to humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region.
Aliyu said the humanitarian crisis had affected people from Nigeria; Niger, Chad, Togo, Burkinafaso and Cameroon Republics.
Earlier, Cesar Tshilombo, Head of UNHCR Sub-Office Maiduguri, said the organisation had adopted proactive modalities to provide durable solution to problems affecting the displaced persons, to enable them to return home and resume normal life.