Borno Chamber of Commerce Industries, Mines and Agriculture (BOCCIMA), has sought for special financial stimulus to support its members recover from the devastating effects of the insurgency.
Alhaji Abdullahi Usman, Director-General of the Chamber, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Maiduguri.
Usman said the call was imperative to facilitate financial assistance to its members badly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
He said that such support was critical towards encouraging growth of manufacturing and other business activities, to restore the state to its lost glory as the commercial hub in the North-East.
“We have received letter from Chadian Chamber of Commerce showing its eagerness for resumption of business activities with our members,” he said.
Meanwhile, some traders in Maiduguri have called for the reopening of Maiduguri – Gamboru highway and Maiduguri – Banki road, to fastrack resumption of trading activities in the border communities between Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon Republics.
One of the traders, Mr Abubakar Ibrahim, decried the prolong closure of the roads, adding that the trend was negatively affecting sustainable social and economic development in the region.
“We want the security agencies restricting movement on the affected roads due to insecurity to adopt proactive steps towards reopening of the roads.
“Despite the cases of kidnapping along Kaduna – Abuja road, people are plying the road.
“We want the military checkpoints along the Maiduguri-Gamboru highway and Maiduguri-Banki road to allow us to ply the roads regularly to facilitate resumption of commercial activities in full swing,” Ibrahim said. (NAN)
