© ALBERT GONZALEZ FARRAN / AFP
The registration and issuance of tokens to 100,000 persons has started in Maiduguri (Borno State) in North-Eastern Nigeria. In this area, millions were forcibly displaced, most of them with no identity documents.
During the Boko Haram insurgency in recent years, many government offices, including civil registry offices, were destroyed. For Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative in Nigeria, identification is a major concern for the freedom of movement of IDPs:
“In conflict zones, where movement control becomes a necessary strategy, we felt it important to encourage the government to extend to, and indicate Borno State as a priority area for biometric ID card emission, so as to help resolve one of the most important protection issues: lack of documentation that negatively impacts on the freedom of movement.”
To read the full story in The Guardian, click here.