NAN-H-5
Security
By Lizzy Okoji and Taiye Edeni
Abuja, May 3, 2017 (NAN) Dr Sunday Ochoche, Executive Director, Victims Support Fund (VSF), has called for fortified security in the North-East as normalcy returns to the region.
Ocheche made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Commending the success of the military in their intervention in the North East, he said there was need for other security agencies to strengthen the efforts for sustainable peace in the region.
He said that many of the displaced persons are ready and willing to return to their communities but needed confidence and security guarantee make them feel safe again.
“People are eager to return to their homes but gain, you need only one case of a relapse in the security situation to send out the wrong message and people will begin to react.
“Given what they have gone through, they wouldn’t want to live through another round of attack by the Boko Haram.
“The Military are doing a lot but I think so much of what is required now is the support of other security agencies like the Police, the Civil Defence, the DSS and others.
“This is to ensure maximum security and for the displaced persons to begin to return to their communities.
“There is need to accelerate the process of local governance in many of these places and this is part of what the VSF is trying to support by helping to build the institutions of states at those levels.
“The local government structure, police structure, economic structure, schools and social services all need to be functional on their return, so that their lives can continue as quickly as possible,’’Ochoche said.
Ochoche said that life in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was not a holiday and a lot of the IDPs would prefer going back to their homes than remain in the camps.
He said that as soon as the military recovered the territories under the control of the insurgents, it was amazing the speed at which the IDPs returned voluntarily.
The Executive Director, also called on leadership at all tiers of government not to relent in their commitments and zeal to drive and implement key projects and programmes.
He also called for effective collaboration among all stakeholders and development actors in ensuring speedy rehabilitation and reconstruction in the region.
Ochoche pledged VSF’s continuous commitment to achieving its mandate and in addressing the root causes of the insurgency and providing long term, durable solutions. (NAN)
LIZ/TY/BOLA/MZA
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Edited by Bola Akingbehin/Maharazu Ahmed