The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IDP

  • EFCC arrests Gombe SEMA Secretary

    EFCC arrests Gombe SEMA Secretary

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the Gombe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Secretary, Dr Danlami Rukuje, over alleged diversion of materials meant for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    The arrest was disclosed on the commission’s website monitored on Saturday in Lagos by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Rukuje was arrested following a tip-off received by the Intelligence and Special Operations Section (ISOS) of the commission.

    The arrest was carried out by the EFCC officials at the Gombe Zonal Office on Wednesday.

    “The materials, which include cans of paints and bags of cement meant as building materials donated to the state by the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiatives (PCNI) never made it to the IDP camps.

    “Investigations revealed that they were, instead, diverted to other areas including markets for sale.

    “A team of operatives acting on the information, immediately swung into action and located shops where the materials were being sold.

    “The Gombe State Fertiliser Grinding Plant, where some of the materials were kept, was also raided.

    “A storekeeper at the state’s Emergency Agency, Isa Garba, was subsequently arrested.

    “Further investigations led to the arrest of a staff of the state’s Fertiliser Grinding Plant, Mu’azu Suleman.

    “The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,’’ the commission said.

  • Boko Haram militants kill seven in Borno IDPs camp

    Boko Haram militants kill seven in Borno IDPs camp

    At least seven people were killed on Friday when Boko Haram fighters attacked an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Ngala Borno State.

    Ngala, which has its headquarters in Gamboru Ngala is located near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon.

    Two people were also killed by a blast outside another camp in Maiduguri, the state capital.

    A civilian militia member in Ngala, Umar Kachalla, said insurgents in two pick-up trucks fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the camp, which houses some 80,000 people.

    “The insurgents fired an RPG into the camp from behind the fire fence, killing seven people,” he said.

  • Unity Bank donates relief materials to IDPs’ school

    Unity Bank donates relief materials to IDPs’ school

    Unity Bank has donated relief materials to The Praxis Catholic School for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and Vulnerable Children. The donation was made during an excursion of the pupils to the bank’s regional office in Abuja. A delegation of the school led by its proprietor, Ben Onwujifor, received the items.

    The bank’s Head, Corporate Communications, Matthew Obiazikwor, in a statement, explained that the gesture was part of the lender’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), aimed at partnering government, institutions, donor agencies, non-governmental organisations and humanitarian agencies for Northeast rehabilitation, particularly by reaching out to the IDPs.

    Such gestures, he said, would ameliorate the sufferings caused by the insurgency in the North East. “Beyond our CSR and the bank being in the forefront of private sector intervention initiative in the Northeast, it has equally kept faith in the Northeast, being the only lender that did not close operations to its teeming customers even in the thick of the insurgency experienced in Borno State,” he said.

    Commending the bank for hosting Praxis School for the IDPs, Onwujiofor urged the bank to open a dedicated IDPs account to assist in collecting voluntary donations from other public-spirited individuals and organisations wishing to support IDPs cause.

    He noted that Praxis Catholic School for the IDPs has an ambitious educational programme for its pupils and this can be sustained if there is increased assistance and inflow of donations to execute outlined initiatives to fully reintegrate the IDPs into the mainstream of activities in the society.

    “We are grateful to Unity Bank and for the opportunity of the excursion and we use this platform to call for greater partnership from all well-meaning members of the public to bring succor to the victims of the insurgency”.

    The stament said the Praxis Catholic School for the IDPs was opened in December 2016 by the First Lady  Hajiya Aisha Buhari.

    In 2016, Unity Bank supported Borno State Government with the donation of relief materials worth millions of Naira, having also been acknowledged by Governor Kashim Shettima for another donation of N25million made in the previous years.

  • One, big IDP camp

    Why does Hardball keep having this feeling that he is lost in one big, sprawling misery camp? Could it be the recent siege to the country by dare-devil kidnappers? For instance you never know which school will be struck next or whose children would be spirited away into the dank creeks.

    Could it be the rampaging rapists who pick on our toddlers, young and old women at will for ravishing? Who knows the tot to be defiled next or the fledgling damsel to be waylaid at the next lonely junction? Reports of abduction and rape abound so much these days that our daughters, sisters, aunties and even mothers seem like endangered species.

    Perhaps it’s the now deafening sabre rattling going on across the country from the north, south, east and west. All of a sudden, our primordial nature has been roused so precipitously in all corners of the country. The social media has suddenly become anti-social and dangerous.

    People you thought were your bosom friends had daggers tucked around their belts all these while and their smiles could have been like jackals baring their teeth. So much anger and hate messages suffuse the cyberspace that just one little spark somewhere might just ignite a huge conflagration.

    But beyond all these examples, the situation in the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps in the northeast of Nigeria are the surest signposts that we all may well be displaced people. Or put differently, we are all in an entirely displaced entity. Is it perchance that since the internal ‘refugee’ crises started, there have been a running battle between the camp dwellers and Nigerians outside the camp over the relief materials meant for the displaced victims of Boko Haram insurgency.

    About two years ago, two policemen almost eliminated each other in a shoot-out after a misunderstanding in sharing stolen IDPs rice. Since then, the media have been awash with tales of recurrent diversion of IDPs supplies.

    Last week, the federal government had to write a formal letter of apology to the government of Saudi Arabia over the diversion of date fruits shipped to the IDPs in Nigeria by the middle-east country. It was reported that an Emir was behind this particular heist. And just this week, the presidency bemoaned the fact that no fewer than 50 out of every 100 trucks of grains meant for the IDPs camp missed their way.

    The good news however, is that an initiative known as Special Relief Intervention is now being implemented which has drastically curbed the menace. We pray this is for real for he who feeds off the ration of a beggar suffers a worse state of mendicancy.

  • Peace Corps helps IDP’s vulnerable kids

    THE horrors of being violently displaced in your country are multiple. You are only lucky to escape alive, for some of your neighbours, sometimes even family members did not. Those who fled Boko Haram attacks have experiened this, but there is more. Sometimes, those who survived have no parents, or are living with physical challenges.

    At the Aisha Buhari Special School for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Vulnerable Children in Abuja, there is quite a number of these vulnerable children. For them, life can be quite an ordeal.

    But there was cause for cheer at the school when the Commandant of the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) Dickson Akoh visited bringing with him items worth thousands of naira.

    There are about 168 male children from various families in the school.

    They expressed joy and happiness that they could find shelter far away from home.

    Akoh, who showed love to the children, said it has been a corporate social responsibility of the PCN to engage in national advocacy that engender youth development and nation-building.

    Akoh went further that factors that bring about vulnerability of children vis-à-vis Internally Displaced Persons should be vehemently kicked against as every child deserves a home and the right to be loved.

    Represented by the Deputy Corps Commandant in charge of Finance, Omolola Ahmed, the PCN boss said: “pet projects are being embarked upon by first ladies of various states government but none can be compared or given reference to supporting vulnerable and under-privileged children who were displaced unconditionally, lost their parents and rendered homeless as that being embarked by the wife of the President, Hajia Ashia Buhari.

    “Her Excellency in this unalloyed magnanimity has taken the bold step to give home to the homeless, put food in the mouths of those without hands to provide for themselves, and ultimately give hope to the hopeless. In our view and that of the general public, it is widely said that posterity will never forget you.”

    It is also pertinent, Akoh said to point out that the corps has reached out to several charity homes and most recently the IDPs home at Durumi in the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja.

    He acknowledged the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration which has gone beyond the confines of fighting corruption, retrieving looted funds to making sure that youths are given the necessary platform to exhibit their God-given talents.

    Akoh prayed for Buhari to return in good health and vigor, adding,  “He will in recourse to the socio-economic advancement of our youths, speedily and convincingly assent to the Bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Peace Corps.         Situated in Gwarinpa, the Principal of Hajia Aisha Buhari Special School for the Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs) and Vulnerable Children, Ben Onwudinjo said the children who are victims of the Boko Haram insurgency hail from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States and were selected from 14 IDP camps in FCT/Nasarawa States.

    Onwudinjo said the children depend on well-meaning Nigerians to survive.

    He disclosed that the: “wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari has formally adopted the school as one of her pet projects, hence the official change of the name of the school to  Hajia Aisha Buhari Special School for the Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs) and Vulnerable Children.

     

  • Anambra poll: three chieftains declare interest in IDP ticket

    Anambra poll: three chieftains declare interest in IDP ticket

    The Independent Democrat Party (IDP)  is set for its congress in Anambra State, ahead of the governorship election.

    Its Chairman, Mazi Omife  Omife, told reporters in Awka, the state capital,  that three chieftains have indicated interest in the governorship race in the party.

    He said the party will conduct a credible primary for the aspirants.

    Omife assured that the contestants would be given a level playing ground to avoid a post-primary crisis.

    He said the primary would be witnessed by the national officers  and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Omife said the congress, which would hold at the ward, local government and state levels would take place between this month and next month.

    He said the IDP membership was drawn mostly from former and serving town nion Presidents Generals, adding that there will be an effective mobilisation for the poll.

    He said efforts will be made to enlighten the people about the manifestos of the party, ahead of the exercise.

    Omife said: “The IDP has come to liberate the people of Anambra State from years of socio-economic bondage and exploitation by the so-called big parties and unconscionable politicians.”

  • Our Girls; IDPs jobs; PMB silence; UBN– Grassroots CSR?

    Our Girls; IDPs jobs; PMB silence; UBN– Grassroots CSR?

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. The terrible figures 100,000+ dead and 3-5million IDPs, many migrated across Nigeria, show the enormous emotional, Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, P-TSS and economic cost of Boko Haram and its evil ‘sister’ proxy wars –Fulani herdsman-farmers and Southern Kaduna wars. According to UN, $1,000,000,000+ $1+billion is required for developmental recovery. It must guarantee ‘maximum local human IDP content’ and not use out-of-state contractors. NGOs like Red Cross must recruit local staff. Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp feeding must be monetised for family empowerment to buy from IDP-run shops and IDPs must earn salaries working in camps, for morale, morals and money to grow IDP families and the local economy. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)’s method of dumping/distributing blankets and buckets in an IDP camp turns IDPs into beggars. IDPs must get recovery jobs. Qualified and trainable IDPs must be recruited, trained and employed. This dictum ‘THIS PROJECT MUST EMPOWER, EMPLOY, DIGNIFY IDPs’ must be for IDP unskilled, highly skilled and board room members. Beware of greedy elders and traditional rulers. Capacity building requires an IDP ‘SKILLS/DESIRED JOB AND LOCATION CENSUS’ and ‘What would YOU like to do/train as?’ Projected project job needs must be researched and publicised for IDPs to develop needed skills to avoid recruiting out-of-state ‘Fellow Nigerians’.
    Also an EFCC/ICPC driven ANTICORRUPTION MECHANISM must be set up NOW to prevent and detect over-invoicing, theft and ‘UNFULFILLED FAKE CONTRACTS’ -check NDDC. Note that the plight of IDPs is replicated ‘under every bridge’ nationwide.
    Desmond Nunugwo’s death in EFCC’s custody requires NHRC investigation as no one should die in custody from disease, medical, fear or violence.
    Nigeria’s ‘Presidential Silence’ was ill-advised and has cost Nigeria dear. The emotional cost to 150m citizens bombarded with fake ‘death-wish’ rumours was preventable. Many Nigerians stand with Buhari, though he is slow, and Nigeria’s stolen money is trickling back in billions. The financial cost of forex £5,000-50,000/head for those visiting London as an ‘Emergency Destination’, costing ‘Official Duty’ flight ticket, ESTACODE, hotels and Oxford Street visits was preventable. The cost of media, ‘How is Buhari?’ and ‘1+billion ‘comments’, were preventable. Our Presidential Silence has not been ‘Golden’ but has cost Nigeria ‘gold’, millions. Pray he lives to fight more. Www=‘A Word is Wisdom from the Wise’.
    National Assembly (NASS) should stop insulting Nigerians invited before them. Instruct MDAs on what documents it requires in this budget defence round. Public hearings are vital, but public disgrace is not. NASS’s record gives it no moral right, authority or immunity to castigate officials when its own N125b budget and stupendous SAPP, Salaries and Perks and Pensions are sequestered in deep secrecy and the stench of corrupt lingers and ‘hyper-pensions’ nauseate us. The 20+ senior staff of any MDA report to NASS and with, 100 observers, the meetings cost Nigeria millions. Stop wasting Nigeria’s time and money and agree on the vetting formula and documents. Genuine issues are welcome but civility should prevail and not a rant by NASS-ty committee chairmen. Thank God Pay-Before- Budget-Approval is not possible as all the money is in TSA- HaHa! Valentine was dry this year, abi??? No NASS member should PPP -PRACTICE POLITICAL PROSTITUTION by demanding or receiving a Yakubu-like ‘Unsolicited Valentine Gift’ or a ‘Show Me Your Love’ Valentine card stuffed with money ‘under-the-cap’ ‘currency’ or GMGs, Ghana Must Go bags to guarantee ‘rancour-free budget approval’. NASS committees, treat Nigeria’s children’s parents with the respect, dignity and decorum you demand for your election to NASS by whatever means you and your God and whistle-blowers know. SERVICON says it is a human right not to be insulted in the workplace. As a doctor I can tell you, having dissected and operated on thousands of Fellow Nigerian and foreign bodies, political and pauper, that your body and your brain are no different from the kobo-less beggar and her starving children begging around traffic lights nationwide and in your village regardless of your government bought A5 AAAAA- ATTIRE, APPELLATION, ABODE, ACCOUNTS and ARMOURED/ARMOUR-LESS JEEP and All other Perks. As leaders of ‘NIGERIA’S POLITICAL EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY’, NASS should take the ‘LIKE/INDIFFERENT/HATE TEMPERATURE’ of Nigerians and try to reverse the sickening hurt it inflicts when its members pontificate on their ‘sacrifice’ on NTA, if Nigerians are fortunate enough to have electricity to waste watching NASS in their perpetually dark country. Pray for Buhari, pray and shout for a ‘Changed NASS’.
    Union Bank@100 is good. Nigeria’s Private Sector ‘funders’ of CSR, used to ‘HQ CSR’ should count the 100 year missed opportunity to constructively, systematically and collectively transform Nigeria’s baseline – grassroots schools near their individual customer base, branches, distributorships and kiosks. Imagine the contribution to youth education of 10,000 Union Bank 100 Book School Libraries, 500,000 Zenith Bank Football, 100 MTN Science Centres, one Ecobank Aquarium, 1,000 Unilever Boy Scouts Excursion and a P&G Girl Guides Annual Camp. Need I say more?
    Tayo Aluko’s stage portrayal of first generation lawyer, British Judge Tunji Sowande, was recognised by BBC, Focus on Africa. Use Google to teach your children about Africans in the UK from slaves, Paul Robson, the West African Students Union, Crown Agents, the African clubs and the West African Route ships Elder Dempster Line MV Apapa, Accra, and Aureole.
    NB: Whistle-blow corruption and identify and expose to the public ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for coming elections.
    NNB: Nigerian journalists search bbc.com/KomlaDumor to compete for Komla Dumor Award closing 15/3/2017.blog- www.tonymarinho.com

  • Foundation donates to commission for IDPs

    Foundation donates to commission for IDPs

    Nero Asibelua Foundation has partnered National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons ((NCRMIDP) to complement the government’s efforts to resettle displaced persons (IDPS).
    Its President, Mr. Nero Asibelua, said the help became necessary because of the hardship refugees and displaced persons were facing. He added that the government should be left with handling governance. He called on well-meaning Nigerians to join in the fight to save the people.
    “The Foundation is passionate about restoring dignity to displaced persons, refugees and migrants and, therefore, offers to partner the government through the NCRMIDP to achieve the goal.
    “The business of running a country should not be left for government alone. As responsible citizens, everyone should help by ensuring that their immediate families are properly and lawfully maintained, help the less privileged in our society as this will in turn correct the ills in the nation at large,” he said.
    Asibelua spoke in Lagos when the foundation hosted the Commissioner for National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP) Sadiya Umar Farouq, who is one of Nigeria’s female crusaders for peace, transparency and good governance.
    He said the meeting was aimed at ensuring that IDPs settle in their new environment by ensuring mechanisms are provided for lasting solutions to reintegrate the displaced persons periodically back into society.
    According to him, this would give hope to the affected, making them know that they are not alone.
    The items were for the provision of proper accommodation for IDPs at its Settlement Centre. They include 32″ Plasma TVs, refrigerators, deep freezers, washing machines, cooking pots, electric kettles, mircowave oven, among others.
    Mrs. Sadiya Umar Farouq and the Southwest Zonal Coordinator, Mrs. Margret Ukegbu, who received the gifts, commended Nero Asibelua Foundation for the gesture, saying that Federal Government had begun plans to resettle the over 500 IDPs from the region in their various communities. She disclosed that there were also plans to equip them with skills so that those who might not wish to go home would have viable means of livelihood.
    According to her, the commission is aware of the state of internal displacement in the region and the issues that affect them. She said policies were being put in place by the government to ensure those affected were provided with food, water, medicine and shelter alongside provision of durable solutions towards their resettlement.

  • Air Force extends medical outreach to IDPs in Southwest

    Air Force extends medical outreach to IDPs in Southwest

    THE Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has begun a two-day medical outreach for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Southwest.
    Over 300 IDPs at the Festac, Satellite Town and Ajah camps in Lagos State were given medical screening and treatments by officers from NAF Medical Services at the United Nations Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs in Ikoyi.
    The inauguration of the programme, withn the theme: We Care, We Share, was attended by the Federal Commissioner, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq; Acting Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago in Nigeria, Garth Lamsee and NAF’s Director of Humanitarian Services, Air Commodore Harold Onyechi.
    Hajiya Farouq hailed the Chief of the Air Staff , Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar and the Chief of Medical Services, Air Vice Marshal S. M. Shinkafi, for taking the lead in providing medical care for IDPs across Nigeria.
    She said: “The NAF is not only living up to its constitutional responsibility of securing our land, airspace and overall territorial integrity, but also engaging in humanitarian assistance to our persons of concern.
    “Plans are in earnest to ensure that the IDPs are resettled as soon as possible in their home communities. There are also plans to equip them with self-reliant skills so that those of them who may not wish to be voluntarily relocated to their states, when it is time, would have a viable means of livelihood.”
    According to her, the commission was conversant with the current spate of internal displacement in the Northeast and the attendant issues being faced by these persons of concern in health, shelter, food, education, among others.
    Hajiya Farouq went on: “It is therefore one of the major policy drives of this government, to not only ensure that all persons of concern are properly catered for, but also proffer durable solutions, which encompasses resettlement and return of IDPs to their previous places of abode.
    “This medical intervention is an important activity in a series being carried out in collaboration with NAF and is expected to be a continuous exercise, involving more IDPs in this zone.”
    Some of the services rendered to the IDPs include eye test, dental clinic, ante-natal, general outpatient services, laboratory services and outpatient pharmacy.
    Lamsee, who donated some consumables to the IDPs on behalf of his country he feels a moral responsibility to stand in solidarity with the IDPs in recognition of their horrific humanitarian crisis.
    He assured them that they would endure, survive and eventually rise from their current state.
    Appreciating NAF’s gesture, some of the IDPs who said they fled Michika in Adamawa State in 2014, stated that they have since taken to begging to survive.
    To Lekshi David, a 30-year-old mother of three, she usually earned between N50 and N100 daily from begging, which she uses to support her family.
    She said: “I have not seen my husband since 2014 that we ran from Michika. My home and shop were burnt down and I was pregnant then. I fled with my other baby and stated staying in Festac. Since then I have been begging. I have not seen my husband since then. Most times, people would give me food and sometimes I make N50 or N100.
    “So, with that kind of money, I cannot afford to go to the hospital or take any of my children there. That is why I am happy that the NAF remembered us with this their programme.”
    Another beneficiary, Sarah Simon, who said she would love to return home, however expressed concerns that Boko Haram terrorists were still attacking neighbouring communities.

  • NIS chief blames IDP, camp bombing on improper mapping

    Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) President Mr. Akin Oyegbola has blamed the accidental bombing of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Rann, Borno State on the lack of proper mapping of the country’s landscape.

    He said it was regrettable that the  accident occurred because the flight crew was not aware of the location of the IDP Camp when it was bombed.

    “The digital method of processing, managing, storing and presenting geo-spatial information would have made possible mapping of the IDP Camps as they were being sited. If the IDP Camps have been mapped the position of one of them would not have been mistaken for that of Boko Haram,” he said.

    While calling on the Federal Government to ensure adequate mapping of the country, the NIS President explained that the case in point shows how important mapping is to all human activities on land and how much Nigeria has relegated it to the background, insisting that the most mapped countries are the most developed ones.

    He regretted that the little efforts that were being done by the government and the private sector is not well coordinated for optimal use, assuring that his institute would continue its awareness, enlightenment, and publicity drive to make government and all concerned understand the need to earmark enough funds for Surveying and Mapping in the budget.