Borno govt begins search, rescue operation for over 200 abducted IDPs

Borno govt begins search, rescue operation for over 200 abducted IDPs

A search team put together by the Borno state government will join an operation to rescue over 200 abducted Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the north east state.

The dispatched team will be working with security operatives to rescue the victims who were abducted while searching for firewood in the Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of the State.

The Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) announced the development on Thursday.

Speaking with newsmen, the director general of the agency, Dr Barkindo Saidu, said they could not declare the IDPs abducted until a claim is made by their supposed abductors.

The motive for the incident, if it’s an abduction, is yet to be established, Saidu stated.

“Technically, as a professional body, these people were not abducted until a claim of abduction was made by someone or a group.

“We know that some people are missing, and we are trying to find out. If they are abducted, what are the reasons or demands of the abductors? And from there, we will declare that they are abducted to see how we can rescue them,” he said.

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According to him, the state government has supplied food items to the families of the missing IDPs.

Saidu also confirmed the destruction of the housing units by Boko Haram insurgents in Dikwa town, saying only a single block was destroyed completely; the rest were partial.

Borno State governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, said the state government was yet to get an official report on what happened to the IDPs.

The governor disclosed this when a delegation of ambassadors led by Richard Montgomery, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, paid him a visit in Maiduguri on Thursday.

“We are yet to get an official report. Nobody knows what had happened among them. I believe we have those that willingly went to the bush,” he said.

Borno govt begins search, rescue operation for over 200 abducted IDPs