The Chief of Party, North East Regional Initiative (NERI), Mr. Olivier Girard, announced on Wednesday the rounding up of its six years programme of interventions in some states affected by insurgency.
The states include Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
According to Girard, the programme, which included interventions in education, health, women empowerment among others, is being funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID) and British Government.
Speaking at the closing ceremony in Maiduguri, he said that within the past six years, NERI carried out 254 activities in Borno alone.
He also disclosed that while USAID was closing up the intervention in the North East, there were plans by the agency to launch another programme in the area.
He also announced that they will be shifting the focus of their intervention to the Middle Belt in response to conflict and violence against civilian populations.
His words: “USAID has asked us to close down our programme in the Northeast. This was not an easy decision on their part.
“They have asked us to shift the focus of our intervention. We will soon be undertaking new programming in Nigeria’s Middle Belt in response to conflict and violence against civilian populations.
“The good news is that USAID will be launching a new programme in the coming months entitled- Building Community Resilience to Violent Extremism and Conflict in Northeast Nigeria.
“This programme will continue to work with communities to strengthen social cohesion and push back against the influence of insurgents.”
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Girard expressed appreciation for the support and cooperation received by NERI from government at all levels including security agencies.
He said: “We have worked closely with the Nigerian Army to improve safety and security of communities in northeast.
“We have been busy digging trenches around Damasak, Gubio, Monguno, Dikwa, Kekeno, Bama, Pulka and other locations like Maiduguri International Airport.
“We put up concertina wire fences, we installed streetlights to make it harder for insurgents to infiltrate and attack towns. And also to improve the morale of the population.”
He also explained that NERI had supported medical outreach activities and widows with training and tools.
According to him, NERI last year received £1.5 million from the British Government to support the Nigerian Police with infrastructure rehabilitation and equipment.
He explained that the fund was used to rehabilitate the police quarters in Monguno, Bama and the State Command headquarters in Maiduguri.
In his remarks, Gov. Babagana Zulum represented by the Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, commended NERI’s intervention in various sectors particularly education and women empowerment, but urged it to stay for a while longer.
Zulum noted that it was exiting at a critical time when the state was relocating Internally displaced persons back to their ancestral land.
