Saudi Arabia donates $10m as relief to ‘brothers’ in Northern Nigeria
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced donation of $10m as aid to their ‘brothers in IDPs camps and refugees in North-East’
Saudi Arabia’s donation is part of the King Salman’s Humanitarian Aid and Relief Programme.
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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister, Mr. Nasir Mutbak, said in Abuja on Tuesday that the donation is for the provision of food and basic amenities in camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East.
“We are here to implement King Salman issued aid to help our brothers in IDPs and refugees in North-East. We are here to reach out, and provide assistance for our brothers in that region. And of course, the donation will be $10 million.
Nigeria’s Defence Minister, Retired Brigadier General Mansur Dan, while receiving the team from Saudi Arabia, said the fund will go a long way in helping to fight terrorism in the country.
A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Monitoring released earlier in the year shows that despite claims by the Nigerian government to have “technically defeated” the deadly jihadist terrorist group, the volume and victims of the attacks have risen progressively from 2016 to 2017.
The BBC said Boko Haram is the most incomprehensible terrorist group in the world, adding that January has remained the deadliest month in the history of the attacks.
The report said: “Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly said that the Boko Haram jihadist group has been defeated but BBC analysis of its attacks shows little change.
Research by BBC Monitoring shows the group killed more than 900 people in 2017, marginally more than it did in 2016”.
More than 20, 000 deaths have been recorded on the account of Boko Haram since its inception in 2009.