The House of Representatives said on
Tuesday that 700,000 lives had so far been lost to the Boko Haram
insurgency ravaging the North-East, besides another 2.2 million people
displaced in the zone.
The figures were given in Abuja as the
House debated a bill seeking to legalise the establishment of the
North-East Development Commission.
The bill, which was sponsored by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, passed the second reading on Tuesday.
However, it was the Deputy Speaker, Mr.
Yussuff Lasun, who presided over the House to allow Dogara to lead the
debate on the bill.
Lasun said, “This bill is dealing with a very serious issue and we have to treat it as such.
“We are talking of 700,000 lives lost and as many as 2.2 million people displaced from their homes. It is very serious.”
The envisaged commission is among other
responsibilities to “receive and manage funds from allocations from the
Federation Account and international donors for the settlement,
rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, houses and business premises
of victims of insurgency.”
Dogara, while leading the debate,
described the condition of the displaced persons in the zone as
“pitiable,” adding that unless urgent steps were taken to assist them,
the situation would worsen.
The bill received the support of both the House Majority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor.
Gbajabiamila said that the situation in
the North-East was comparable to the fate of the people of the Niger
Delta, which forced the National Assembly years back to establish the
Niger Delta Development Commission.
He added, “We have reached a point where we need this commission in the North-East.
“We have the NDDC in the Niger Delta; let us have this commission for the North-East.
“It is unfortunate that we hear stories
of funds meant to solve the security problem of these people, being
diverted. The compensation that these people need is the commission. Let
us give it to them.”
Ogor said he was often moved to tears whenever he heard of the hardship being faced by children and women in the North-East.
“Our people have become refugees in
their own country. The condition of children and women bleeds my heart;
children have been out of school for many years,” he said.
The Deputy House Whip, Mr. Pally Iriase, also supported the bill.
He argued that Nigeria would hardly know peace if the insurgency in the North-East was not contained.
“We can’t move on as a nation if one
part is held down. That is why this bill should enjoy the support of
all,” Iriase told the House.
Three other bills sponsored by Dogara also passed the second reading.
They were a bill to establish the
Federal Competition Commission; a bill to provide for how individuals
should disclose information on crime; and a bill for an Act to provide
for corporate manslaughter.
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