BY MUSDAPHA ILO

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Wednesday directed that food and drugs be distributed to Nigerians resident in communities at the Nigerian/Cameroon border who have been suffering from food shortages.

The residents who usually rely on supplies from across the border in Cameroon have been left without food, drugs and other essential items since the Nigerian neighbour shut its borders because of the Ebola outbreak.

The governor instructed that the items, including include 1,000 bags of processed wheat and maize and assorted drugs, be sent to Banki, Nigeria’s border town with Cameroon where residents are trapped due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

The residents have been in dire need as they are now denied supplies from Cameroon or other parts of Nigeria, particularly Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, as the roads have been taken over by Boko Haram insurgents.

A member of the Agriculture Transformation Committee of the state government, Usman Zanna, who announced the gesture in Maiduguri said that the governor gave the directive following reports that the people of Banki had run out of food and could not go to Bama because Boko Haram insurgents had blocked the road.

He said that the people could also not cross to villages in Cameroon to make purchases because the Cameroonian authorities had closed the border with Nigeria because of fear of the Ebola disease.

“The governor directed that we should liaise with various security agencies in order to have a safe drive to Banki and neighbouring villages,” Zanna stated.