Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulumhas spearheaded an initiative to bring back Nigerian refugees who fled to Baga Sola in Chad due to the Boko Haram insurgency.
These refugees, mostly from Borno, were forced to leave their homes nearly a decade ago as violence spread across communities near the Lake Chad Basin.
Accompanying Zulum were key Nigerian officials, including the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu, and the Federal Commissioner/CEO of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI).
Their delegation was received in Baga Sola by Saleh Haggar Tidjani, Governor of Lac Province.
The first phase of the repatriation will see 7,790 individuals, grouped into 1,768 families, return to Nigeria.
Before the process began, Zulum attended the signing of a tripartite agreement involving Nigeria, Chad, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Dr Sununu represented Nigeria, Governor Tidjani signed on behalf of Chad, and UNHCR’s Second Representative in Baga Sola, Jerome Merlin, signed for the refugee agency.
During his speech, Zulum emphasized that only those who voluntarily wished to return
