‘I can only provide food’— Zulum tells IDPs threatening to enter bush over hardship

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, says his administration can not do more than distributing food items to cushion the impact of the economic hardship on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state.

Zulum spoke on Sunday while addressing a group of IDPs in Mafa LGA who protested and threatened to go into the bush where Boko Haram terrorists are camped.

He said the government has spent about N40 billion on purchasing food and other essential items for IDPs in the state in the past four years.

“Yesterday, I received a report that some IDPs in Dikwa have protested that they will return to the bush because we could not provide food for them. This afternoon, others in Mafa have also done the same,” he said.

“In the last couple of years, we have consistently provided food to internally displaced and vulnerable people. Believe me, what we are doing is even beyond our capacity.

“In the last four years, the government of Borno State spent nothing less than N40bn to provide food and non-food items to the people of the state.

“No government, be it state or federal, has the capacity to provide food to everyone and let me categorically state that I cannot do more than this.

“The hardship we are facing is not only in Borno State but all over Nigeria. There are economic crises in all parts of the world. No state in Nigeria is doing better in the distribution of palliative than Borno.

“We distributed food to IDPs and vulnerable communities every quarter. However, with the improvement in the security situation, we decided to reduce the number of our distribution because people have started earning their livelihood.

“Most of you here (more than 80%) now have access to agricultural land, and I believe you have cultivated your farmlands and harvested your farm produce.

“Both state and federal governments spend huge amounts of money on security. We have realised substantial progress in terms of development and security. Let me be frank with you that we will not condone mischievous acts by anyone.”

The governor had earlier allocated houses and donated food items to IDPs in about 447 households in the Dalori area of Konduga LGA.