The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has completed 900 houses for the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) into Ngwom community of Borno.Ngwom was attacked four times by Boko Haram; displacing many residents to flee and taking refuge at the Maiduguri and Muna Garage IDP camps.
The NEDC Managing Director, Mohammed Alkali disclosed this Thursday in Ngwom, while inspecting the completion of 1,000 housing units along Dikwa road. His words: “I’m very impressed. We started this IDP housing project in the first quarter of this year with only a single sample of an IDP house project. “But today we’ve already completed 900 houses for the IDPs’ return to their liberated community. On the challenges of completing the houses, he said: “The security challenges have affected the completion of housing projects in the community,” noting that contractors and labourers spend only six hours at the project sites.
He said that during the normalcy period the housing projects could have been completed in six to nine months. The Executive Director of Operations, Omar Maiwada also said that; security issues should have been addressed by the time the IDPs return to Ngwom. “And this is everybody’s prayers,” he said; noting that it will be part of history.He said that with the completion of returnees’ houses, infrastructural facilities for water, electricity, healthcare delivery are to be provided in the community. On the return of IDPs, he said: “It’s also our prayers that with the completion of houses, we should be able to hand them to the Borno state government by June. “This is what we’re working for to achieve the return of IDPs to Ngwom,” he said.
