The Borno State Government said on Monday that it planned to distribute 500 buses to members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state on loan.

The state’s Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zanna Mustapha, made the disclosure in Maiduguri on Monday when officials of the NURTW paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

Mustapha said the gesture was aimed at addressing the shortage of vehicles for commercial activities in the state.

He said the prices of the buses would be subsidised by the state government to enable the beneficiaries to obtain them.

The deputy governor said the state government had also deposited N3bn in its Micro Finance Bank as loan to individuals to boost their economic activities.

He said the state government had also released N100m to the Borno Express Transport Cooperation to rehabilitate and update its facilities for better performance.

Mustapha told the officials that the gesture would be extended to other organisations to enable them to perform better.

He also assured the union of continuous government assistance to families of NURTW members who lost their lives to insurgency.

The Chairman of NURTW, Biu Local Government Area chapter, Alhaji Gambo Yakubu,, who led the delegation, commended the state government for the numerous developmental efforts in spite of the current security challenges facing the state.

Yakubu appealed to the state government to help the union complete its new primary school in Biu, headquarters of Biu Local Government Area.

He also urged the government to assist members of the union who lost their vehicles to Boko Haram insurgency.