THE Minister of Interior, Lieutenant Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, has said that his Ministry will collaborate with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for protection of interest of Nigerian citizens displaced by insurgency and other security challenges.
He said Nigeria was duty-bound to protect the interest of its citizens, who had been displaced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and taken refuge into other countries as well as the Internally Displaced Persons in IDP camps in the country.
Dambazau spoke in Abuja when he received the newly-appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Antonio Jose Canhandula.
He told the UNHCR Representative that Nigeria hashad long years of cooperation and partnership with the UN body in matters relating to refugees and stateless persons.
He described as successful, the recently signed Tripartite Agreement between Nigeria, Cameroon and UNHCR on the voluntary return of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon.
The minister drew the attention of the UNHCR Representative to the reported cases of involuntary return of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon without reference to the signed agreement in which such returnees were to do so voluntarily, even though the account said they were not from a refugee camp.
He, therefore, urged Antonio Jose Canhandula to contact the UNHCR office in Cameroon to clarify matters on the issue.
On the implementation of the Tripartite Agreement, the Minister stated that a six-man committee has been formed to ensure adequate implementation of the provisions of the agreement.
He promised to initiate meeting to sort out all outstanding issues and draw up a detailed programme of implementation, and also promised to partner and support the UNHCR Office in Nigeria in the discharge of its mandate.
Responding, the newly-appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Antonio Jose Canhandula, expressed optimism that his organisation and the Federal Government of Nigeria would continue to deepen their cooperation and partnership in the interest of humanity.
He said as a Mozambican, and an African for that matter, his posting to Nigeria was a homecoming and promised to do his best to ensure that Nigeria and the UNHCR continue to work together to protect the interest of Nigerian refugees.