By Fatima Zahra Muhammad
ASHENEWS reports that the Niger state government has sought for partnership with the German government and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in addressing the humanitarian crisis in some parts of the state.
The Niger state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago stated this during a high-level dialogue meeting on peace and security between UNDP and Niger state government.
Bago who noted that the state government was working to address the effects of insecurity on the state noted that 16 out of the 25 local government areas of the state were affected.
Bago who attributed the insecurity to among other reasons, illegal mining in the state said that the state government was in dire need of humanitarian support.
According to him, the state government has tried both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to tackle the menace of insecurity.
As a long-term plan, he noted that his administration created a ministry for nomadic affairs and another, for humanitarian affairs to address the challenges affecting internally displaced persons (IDPs).
He also said that this will allow for the reintegration of Fulani herdsmen, whom he said have been badly hit by the insurgency.
“We are seeking collaboration. We have a lot of challenges on security and they have come here to assess what we are doing and how they can collaborate with us for the betterment of our people.
“We have a lot of IDPs, we are agrarian but we can’t farm anymore because of the activities of bandits and extremist organizations.
“We have discussed our challenges in detail and they have taken notes,” he said.
On his part, the Resident Representative of UNDP, Mohamed Yahya said that his team was in the state to identify its challenges, which will in turn motivate the interventions of the UNDP in the state.
“We are committed to supporting Nigeria and Niger state in particular. The governor has pointed out key challenges he wants us to address which include issues of banditry, displacement, and flooding which are some of the areas that the UNDP works and we will see what the UNDP can do with its partners,” he said.
