FG spends N5bn monthly on IDPs —Sen Yusuf

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, Yusuf Yusuf, said on Friday the Federal Government spent N5 billion monthly on victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the North East

Yusuf, who disclosed this in a chat with journalists in Abuja, however, urged the federal government to continue supporting the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the various camps.

He said: “There are 2.7 million people in the IDP camps across the North East states. No amount of resources can sustain or take care of the IDPs’ palliatives.

“The government and the development partners are doing their best but the resources are very small.

“We cannot sustain spending the N5bn a month to take care of these people.

“We cannot continue to believe that the IDP syndrome should continue. We must exit it at one time or the other. It is a sad thing.

READ ALSO: Fire razes IDPs camp in Borno, kills 14, injures many

“There are children who are orphans in all respect and most of them are below the age of 18. It’s a time bomb waiting to explode.

“All of us, what we should do is to work together, accept the fact that security is important. The security agents should be given enough courage because the government is doing its own best but the security agencies, though they are trying, their best is not enough.

“The people in the IDP camps want to go back to their homes, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t go back.

“All hands must be on deck and make sure that security is provided for them to go back to their homes so that we can reduce the mounting pressure on our resources to take care of the IDPs.”

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