150,000 refugees return to Nigeria, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday disclosed that about 150,000 refugees had returned to Nigeria from across the border.

He said the Federal Government was working hard to tackle the challenges involving Internally Displaced Persons.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while receiving the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Phillipo Grandi, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“About 150,000 refugees have also come back home from across the borders. Our sleeves are rolled up to face the challenges head-on, along with our strategic partners,” the President said.

He added that Nigeria appreciated the continued collaboration of the UN.

Buhari said Nigeria was being guided by international best practices and standards in rehabilitating millions of persons displaced by the Boko Haram sect.

He disclosed that Nigeria was making efforts to domesticate the Kampala Convention Treaty, which legally bound governments to protect the rights and wellbeing of people forced to flee their homes by conflict.

The President lauded the military, which he said had created a safe passage that had made it easier to help displaced persons.

He disclosed that different mechanisms had been put in place to care for the nutritional, health, physical and spiritual rehabilitations of the displaced.

Grandi, who had visited Cameroon, Niger and Chad, as part of his tour of the Lake Chad Basin region, commended what he called “Nigeria’s determination to resolve the humanitarian crisis” at hand.

He noted that his visit to Maiduguri, Borno State, afforded him the opportunity “to see the excellent work being done by the authorities, with the support of the international community”.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said he was leaving Nigeria with the conviction that things were under control.

“A lot remains to be done, but I see progress. I have seen the protection given to the rights and privileges of civilians in the North-East, and it is commendable,” he said.

Grandi said the UN would always be willing to assist Nigeria with resources and the needed expertise to resettle displaced persons.