The Senate yesterday condemned the increasing spate terror attacks by Boko Haram sect in the North-East, saying about five million Nigerians have been displaced by the sect.

The concerned raised about the activities of the terror group followed the second reading of two Bills seeking the ?establishment of North-East Development Commission that would be responsible for the rebuilding of the zone on the floor of the Senate.

One of the bills, entitled ‘A Bill for an Act to Establish the North-east Development Commission in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to address the devastation caused by insurgency and other connected matters (2015)..’ was sponsored Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, while Senator Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano South) sponsored the second one known as ‘A Bill for an Act to Establish North-East Development Commission charged with the responsibility among other things to receive and manage fund from allocation of the federation account and international donors for the settlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, houses and business premises of victims of insurgency and for other related matters (2015)’.

The bills which were consolidated are seek to provide a legal framework for the coordination of activities for rehabilitation of internally displaced persons and reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed in the North-East.

Painting a pathetic picture of what the people of the North-East were going through in the hands of the insurgents, Gaya said over 15,000 lives were lost while over 5 million people were internally displaced due to the crisis in the region.

He said in view of the level of devastation in the region, an urgent well planned rescue programme to rebuild the region was necessary because Nigeria has the largest population rate of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Credit:Leadership