Nigeria to resettle people displaced by Boko Haram attacks

Nigeria is set to resettle, rehabilitate and reintegrate people displaced by Boko Haram attacks back into their homes and communities, to pave way for a new lease of life for them, a government spokesman said Monday.

Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan will on Tuesday flag off the process of reintegration by inaugurating a special committee to see to that, Odutayo Oluseyi, the mouthpiece appointed for the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE), told Xinhua in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Apart from being given the responsibility to rehabilitate and reintegrate the internally displaced persons, the committee was partly set up to fasttrack government's plan for the affected communities, he said.

In collaboration with other relevant government agencies, the special committee will also assess the status and conditions of liberated communities to determine which ones are ready for occupation, assess and determine the immediate needs of the returnees and to assess, recommend and implement modalities for the return of the refugees to their communities, the spokesman said.

Part of the Nigerian government's plan to fully reintegrate the returnees to the society is to develop a comprehensive resettlement as well as facilitate the provision of adequate relief materials for them, he added.

Nigerian troops have routed Boko Haram fighters from different towns and communities in northeast Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in the last few weeks, thereby creating the opportunity for displaced persons to resettle in their comfort zones.

With massive military operations, the government forces have also recovered several sophisticated weapons from the terrorists. Endi