UN joint mission in Nigeria to evaluate humanitarian crises in Lake Chad Basin

By OLAWALE AJIMOTOKAN

A United Nations joint mission has arrived in Nigeria to assess efforts towards addressing the peace and security issues in the affected Lake Chad Basin as well as humanitarian measures being put in place.

The mission that visited the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, was led by a Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and Sahel Mr. Mahamat Saleh Annadif.

Mr. Annadif said that the purpose of the mission was to evaluate the crisis situation facing the Lake Chad Basin area.

“We are a joint mission mandated by the UN Security Council to conduct a joint mission in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Last week, we were in Cameroon and Chad and now we are in Nigeria. We are here to underscore the United Nations’ support and solidarity with these four countries. We are interested in looking at the situation of displaced persons and the refugees in these four countries,” Annadif said.

The delegation praised the ministry for its role in issues of displacement and refugees.

Responding, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali who represented the minister, promised to grant the delegation access to make their findings on the humanitarian issues in the country.

Alkali stated that the ministry had developed and institutionalised Civil-Security Cooperation strategic framework and roadmap for humanitarian intervention in the North-east in particular as well as the whole country in general.

He pledged to partner with the UN Mission to achieve durable solutions to the protracted challenges in the Lake Chad region.

In the same vein, the Special Adviser to the President on Humanitarian Affairs, Group Captain Shehu Sadiq, explained the ongoing mission by the United Nations, other Humanitarian agencies as well as the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee created to ensure access to humanitarian actors. (THISDAY)