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Widows and other victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State have berated the Federal Government for taking care of the insurgents at the expense of the internally displaced persons.
The IDPs stated this in a report published on the BBC Hausa Service website accessed on Thursday by one of our correspondents.
They lamented that government, which is spending huge resources on the insurgents, had not paid adequate attention to widows, orphans and other victims of Boko Haram’s attacks.
Some of the victims, who also spoke to The PUNCH at an IDP camp in Maiduguri on Thursday, faulted the amnesty granted the insurgents and insisted that they should be prosecuted.
A few weeks ago, the Federal Government said 603 repentant Boko Haram insurgents, who had completed the de-radicalisation programme would be reintegrated into communities.
I haven’t received assistance from govt – A widowed mother of four
But the victims opposed the government’s plan.
The BBC reported that a widowed mother of four said her husband was killed in her presence by Boko Haram members, some of whom, she said were being taken care of by government.
The unnamed woman stated, “I have not received any assistance. I am are left with four children. The kind of life we live now is some days we eat some, other days we have nothing to eat and then you (government) say ‘Boko Haram fighters have repented,’ and you take care of them.
“What about us who have spent six years in the (IDP) camp. We are not taken care of. Only those who came from the bush, looking for amnesty are the ones being taken care of.