The Insurgency Appeal Fund,
sponsored by the American University of Nigeria (AUN) and Adamawa Peace
Initiative, its partner organization has received a major boost from Dangote
Foundation.
The Foundation, according to a press release
signed by AUN and made available to Naij.com, made a donation of ₦50 million
to help rehabilitate persons displaced by Boko Haram in the northeast. The One
Billion Naira appeal fund was launched in Lagos on October 6.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, after whom the Foundation is named,
promised to assist the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Lagos event.
The Appeal Fund launch was held at the same time as the launch of the 2015
Banking Sector Report and 20th anniversary of Afrinvest West Africa Limited.
Afrinvest is offering pro bono advisory services to the Appeal Fund.
According to Dr Margee Ensign, the President of AUN and
Chair of API, Thirty-five million naira of the donation will be given in kind;
rice, spaghetti, sugar, seasonings, salt, vegetable oil, and 5,000 blankets.
Ensign, who was a keynote speaker at the event dwelt on
peace, development, reconstruction and the way forward for northeast Nigeria.
She told her audience of the dire situation faced by displaced persons in the
northeast.
The partnership between AUN-API have helped thousands of
vulnerable Nigerian youth in the areas of education, and development of life
skills. AUN-API, Ensign continued, counts among its members prominent Muslims
and Christians, traditional rulers, academic and business leaders, NGOs, and
other members of the Yola community, and has the capacity and nimbleness
to address the challenges in real time, given adequate access to aid money,
food, and other supplies.
“With strong extended family bonding in the local
culture, most displaced people now live with relatives rather than in refugee
camps. For example, an estimated 405,000 IDPs fled to Yola, yet only 15,000
sheltered in refugee camps. The international aid community, however, is
generally ill-equipped and inexperienced in dealing with refugees outside of
camps or camp-like settings, people the AUN-API partnership has been able to
reach.
“We know our community and we are in a unique
position to bring diverse resources together to find and implement solutions to
crises, prevent our youth from succumbing to the temptation to join extremist
organizations, and bring stability to the region,” she
spoke at the event.
In a related news concerning Boko Haram and
Adamawa state. A number of armed men suspected to be members of the
Islamist terror group, Boko Haram, on Saturday, October 17, attacked a village
in Adamawa state, killing 12 people dead.
Maina Ularamu, the former chairman of Madagali local
government area, said the insurgents attacked Dar village in the council at
about 8.30pm.
He
said: “A large number of gunmen invaded the village, forcing resident
to flee to nearby bush. Two female suicide bombers disguised as fleeing
villagers detonated explosives in the bush where many people were hiding,
killing twelve persons.”
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