The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IDPs

  • Boko Haram: NPA donates relief materials to victims in Yobe

    Boko Haram: NPA donates relief materials to victims in Yobe

    As part of her social responsibility to the society, The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has presented food and non-food relief materials to victims of Boko Haram insurgency in Yobe State.

    The items  donated include;  750 bags of rice, 400 bags of beans, 350 bags of Semovita, 160 bags of corn, 1,400 pieces of wrapper, 5,000 blankets, cooking oil, mats and rechargeable lantern among others to IDPs in Pompomari, Abari, Fuwuri, Ngabaruwa, Gujba, Damaturu, Kukareta, Gulani and Plot 13.

    The Managing Director, NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman while presenting the items to Yobe State Government  at a courtesy call on the deputy Gov. Engr. Abubakar Aliyu who stood in for Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam regretted the cause of the insurgency and called on deliberate measure to be taken to address the errors.

    The MD who was represented by the General Manager, Human Resource, Alhaji Yahaya Gana Bukar said Boko Haram members were not born but created, stressing that, “new efforts must be deliberately and constantly made to ensure that we correct whatever error of the past, and chart a new course for the future of Yobe State and indeed that of the Northeast to come out strong from this catastrophe”.

    Mrs  Bala noted that  the effect of  Boko Haram  insurgency of the economy of the country and the northeast in particular is so intense  that it will take a long time for a complete recovery from the crisis in all facets of human endeavor with the destruction estimated at almost 5.9 billion US dollars.

    She warned, “We must resolved now to never let this nature of crisis befall our people and country again,” she added

    She said the food items donated to the state is only to cushion the food demands of the displaced people.

    Earlier, Deputy Gov. Abubakar D. Aliyu, said the intervention came at the right time when it’s most needed by the affected people.

    He however appeal to  the NPA to take further step by providing  more assistance in the livelihood of the displaced people by  providing  building materials as many of the people have now returned back to their homes.

     

  • NEMA seeks urgent solution to end scourge of Meningitis

    NEMA seeks urgent solution to end scourge of Meningitis

    The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mustapha Maihaja assures that within the next few days, NEMA will partner with the ministry of Health to put an end to the scourge of meningitis in the country.

    The DG disclosed this during his resumption of office as the new Director General NEMA in Abuja, stating that the agency will be in a state of preparedness for disaster management at all times.

    He said, “I am taking over at a time the country is faced with major emergency involving internally displaced persons in various parts. Meningitis ravaging various states and other challenges requiring response from NEMA and concerted efforts with various agencies.

    “As someone from the Northeast who has been directly affected by the deplorable conditions of IDPs in the region, i am familiar with the crisis and the need for urgent and lasting solutions towards rehabilitation of the effected fellows.”

    Maihaja reaffirms that under his leadership, the agency shall be positioned for not only disaster management but equally disaster prevention leveraging globally accepted frameworks.

     

  • Red Cross donates relief materials to 516 IDPs in Kano

    The Kano State Chapter of Red Cross Society on Sunday distributed relief materials worth millions of Naira to 516 Internally Displaced Persons (IPDs) in the State.

    The Red Cross Chairperson in Kano, Dr. Urrata Balla, presented the materials to the IDPs at Hotoro in Tarauni and Gaida in Kumbotso Local Government Areas of the state.

    Balla said the gesture was necessary due to the condition IDPs found themselves.

    “Red Cross cannot compensate the IDPs over what they have lost but will continue to do everything humanly possible to assist them so as to make them feel and have sense of belonging.

    “I also want to call on philanthropists to assist in one way or the other so that everyone should live in a good condition”.

    Balla urged IDPs to always monitor the movement of their children when they return to their respective homes to prevent them from associating with bad people.

    She said the spread of insurgency that brought about the IDPs was as a result of negligence of some parents to monitor and watch over their children.

    Speaking on behalf of the IDPs in Hotoro, and Gaida, Malam Abubakar Mustapha and Malam Magaji Halliru respectively commended the Red Cross for the gesture.

    “Mustapha described the gesture as commendable, especially with the current economic challenges in the country.

    He called on wealthy individuals in the society, government and private organisations to continue to assist them with a view to alleviating their sufferings.

    Mustapha commended President Muhammad Buhari for his efforts towards restoring peace in their areas affected by the activities of insurgents.

    “We are also appealing to the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency do everything possible to rebuild our houses for us to go back and continue with our normal life,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the items distributed include clothes, shoes, blankets, bed sheets, mosquito nets, jerry cans, plastic buckets, soap and other other essential commodities.

  • OLX donates N.5m to IDPs

    OLX donates N.5m to IDPs

    Leading online classifieds, OLX Nigeria, is sharing happiness and hope this Easter season by supporting the WeCare4IDPs Initiative.
    The campaign is dedicated to raising funds to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), as part of efforts to make a positive impact on Nigerians. The company has raised N500,000 to donate to IDPs camp.
    Its Public Relations and Communications Lead, Uche Nwagboso, said OLX is passionate about improving the lives of people in the community in which it operates and as such, identified the IDP as a cause to support because of the far reaching impact on the country.
    “This Easter season is about giving hope to people who need it the most and as a team this is our little way of giving hope to the IDPs,” she said. OLX is running a campaign on social media tagged #OLXCares4IDP where members of the public are urged to support the IDPs through donations on http://bit.ly/OLXCares4IDPs
    WeCare4IDPs is a citizenship initiative which creates a platform for Nigerians individuals and corporate bodies to be a part of the solution in matters concerning IDPs by raising funds to support them.
    The WeCare4IDPs campaign is calling on one million Nigerians to donate at least N1,000. Funds raised will go to funding impact projects defined in the 2017 Nigeria Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) developed by the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) with the support of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning.

  • UN calls on private sector to support IDPs

    UN calls on private sector to support IDPs

    The United Nations (UN) has made a clarion call to the private sector to channel resources towards helping Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that have suffered untold hardship due to the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

    The resident coordinator of UN in Nigeria Mr Edward Kallon gave the call at a dinner with business mogul, chief executives officers and captains of industries in Lagos.

    Kallon observed that the crisis which started on the notion of protecting a course have degenerated into a food, security and malnutrition crisis, adding that due to the fact that over 9.5 million people need humanitarian attention, it has become one of the focus points of the international community.

    According to him, the UN is scaling up its effort in the North East, because their needs are high and against this backdrop, the need for private partnership is imperative to effectively meet the rising needs.

    Giving reasons for the involvement of the private sector, he said: “Nigerian have a vibrant private sector, and we believe that they have a huge role to play in increasing the global resource material and investing in the building and stabilising of the affected people. And that is the potential we are trying to harness’’

    The coordinator averred that his expectation from the private sector is for them to mobilise resources to support of the UN and the government, re-engage the internally displaced and stock investment that is required to pacify the situation.

    In her remark, the Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National planning Honorable Zainab Ahmed described the joint humanitarian response as an embodiment of passion and concern for our fellow human beings.

    The Minister noted that the scale of destruction and the new skill required to ensure a return to normalcy, needs unprecedented levels of partnership between the international humanitarian community and Government of Nigeria, coming together at this critical moment in our history.

    Her words: “Both the Government and the private sector have a moral and imperative responsibility of increasing the funds for IDPs and also ensure seem less at all level to reach the people that are in need at the right time.”

    According to her, the Government will continue to put fund into jointly prioritised sectoral activities, so that there will be no gaps in the humanitarian response.

    Ahmed noted that the resources will be deployed transparently and in a manner that blends in well with the complementary deployment of resources by the humanitarian community, including the support for early recovery and livelihoods.

  • 250 IDP’S for WASSCE in Maiduguri

    250 IDP’S for WASSCE in Maiduguri

    No fewer than two hundred and fifty internally displaced persons, mostly children are currently engaged in this year’s West African Senior School Certficate examination in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    This development is coming at the directives of Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima that some of the students displaced along with their parents be evaluated to sit for the exam so  as to continue with their education.

    The chairman, Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Satomi who monitored the students’  participation at three centers in Maiduguri, said those writing passed a special mock exam conducted for about 1,000 IDPs students  who were in their final year at secondary schools before they were displaced.

    Satomi said the students underwent special classes and comprehensive tutorials organised for them in camps with volunteer tutors who took part in guiding all SS3 IDP’s through WAEC syllabus.

    Our correspondent gathered it was the first time IDPs’ students are writing the WAEC since they were forced out of their homes by Boko Haram insurgents at different times in 2014.

    The demographic distribution of the students include 94 females and 156 males who were once victims of insurgency.

    Satomi said:  “The students were   first evaluated and enrolled into four senior secondary schools, and provided with free uniforms, sandals, bags and books in addition to special tutorials after school hours to enable them catch up.

    “The government released funds to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency which we used in paying the WAEC fees of all the students. As you know, in Borno, the state government pays for WAEC but parents pay a counterpart of N6., 500 as a show of commitment.

    “So, what SEMA paid was the counterpart since the government already paid for all WAEC students across Borno State. Mock exam was organised for over 1,000 IDP’S but out of them, 250 did well and were believed to be emotionally and academically set for this year’s WAEC. The governor also asked us to secure JAMB forms for all of them which is being done, we hope that they will all do well and become eligible for university admission by end of the year.”

  • Borno denies media report of outbreak of meningitis

    Borno denies media report of outbreak of meningitis

    Borno State Government have denied media report of any outbreak of cerebral Spinal Meningitis in the state or any other disease.

    The denial is coming on the hive of the ongoing wide outbreak of CSM across the country with Sokoto being the worse affected state.

    Borno State Commissioner of Heath, Dr. Haruna Mshelia, who addressed the media in Maiduguri, informed that the state has not witnessed any reported cases of an epidemic so far.

    According to him  measures are been taken by the state ministry of  health  including; mounting of surveillance checks  along the border towns and villages surrounding the state to cater for the IDPs moving in and out of the country among others.

    Dr. Mshelia further stated that various healthcare services and immunizations related technical formations have been reactivated to handle any outbreak, adding that relevant agencies and organizations have been identified to support surveillance with a view to pooling and harnessing their efforts towards ensuring the safety of the IDPs and their children.

    He explained that a Rapid Response Team in the state which comprised of the Federal and State Ministry of Health representatives and representatives of health partners like UNICEF and WHO are expected to meet every Tuesday to review the update of the CSM situation in the state.

    “On surveillance and investigation, the state ministry of health, with support from WHO, will ensure adequate surveillance of any reported case,” Dr. Haruna said.

    He also informed that “UNICEF has supplied the state with over 7000 doses of ceftriaxzone in addition to what we have in our stores and the ongoing response vaccination with Meningitis A vaccine in the newly liberated local government areas will continue until all the eligible children, including new arrivals in other local government areas will also immunised”.

    According to the commissioner, Borno is currently undergoing vaccination of children with MenAfricVac in newly accessible settlements in some LGAs such as Dikwa, Monguno, Ngala, Bama (in Banki), Mobbar and Gwoza.

    He further disclosed that the Nigerian Army and Air Force were looking forward to extending the vaccinations to places where coverage was low in the 2012 campaigns.

    Dr. Mshelia appealed to the media to be objective in reporting the issue, while refuting reports of any outbreak of CSM in any part of Borno State.

  • Find solution to Almijiris, herdsmen threat, Gov. Bagudu urges FG

    Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi has called on the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the menace of Almajiri and the clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

    The governor made the appeal when he received a delegation from the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons led by its Federal Commissioner, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday.

    He also called for a lasting solution to the Almajiri system of education and ways of living.
    According to the governor, the almajiri problem is a systemic problem that needs continuous attention of the Federal Government.

    “The issues of Almajiri and herdsmen have often been ignored and often seen just as a nuisance without any durable plan to address the challenges they pose.

    “We have brought up the issues believing it is within your sphere as there is no agency in the country dedicated to dealing with both issues,” Bagudu said.

    He said that apart from education aspect, there was lack of Federal Government establishment dedicated to handle the issues of Almajiris and herdsmen which were also migratory issues.

    The governor also said that most of the almajiri in the state were from Niger and Benin Republics, who share borders with the state.

    “These people can be found in sizeable numbers in all the 21 Local Government Areas of the state,” he said.

    He, however, commended the Federal Government for improving security in the country, adding “before now, our farmers were afraid to go to their farmers for fear of being kidnapped or killed.”

    Earlier, the Federal Commissioner said she was in the state to access the IDPs situation and also declare opened a sensitisation workshop for the North -West Geo Political Zone on ‘Consolidating the Migration Governance: Architecture’.

    She explained that the state was strategically selected because of its location as a border state as well as its agricultural role to the country’s economy.

    Hajiya Farouq commended the state government for the tremendous assistance to IDPs in the state.

     

  • IDPs: Yobe plans effective post-crisis reconstruction

    The Yobe Government on Wednesday said it had mapped out areas of focus for effective post-conflict recovery and reconstruction of persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and their communities.

    Alhaji Musa Jidawa, the Secretary, State Committee on Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu.

    Jidawa said the recovery plan would focus on provision of food and non-food items, water and sanitation, shelter, health, education and protection of IDPs.

    Jidawa, who is also the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), said the recovery plan was developed at a retreat organised by the state government for stakeholders of humanitarian services in the state.

    “The recovery plan includes restoration of means of livelihood through agriculture by providing facilities and skill acquisition,” he said.

    He said the retreat recommended “identifying the root cause of the crisis and addressing same as part of the recovery plan and establishment of trauma centre to address psycho-social and mental health problems among displaced persons”.

    According to him, stakeholders in humanitarian services operating in the state have advised government to prioritise the recovery projects in accordance with peculiarities of the returnee communities.

    “The stakeholders unanimously recommended extension of the gesture to host communities where IDPs reside, having over-stretched the existing facilities before returning to their communities,” the secretary said.

    Stakeholders that attended the retreat include; Dr Mariam Masha, representative of the Vice President, Alhaji Tujjani Tumsah, Vice Chairman, Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI), Alhaji Sani Sidi, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Prof. Sunday Ocheche, Executive Director Victims Support Fund (VSF).

    Others were; United Nations Agencies, National Commission on Refugees Migration and IDPs, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) and local and International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

     

  • Borno IDPs appeal to government on poor feeding

    Borno IDPs appeal to government on poor feeding

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno on Monday appealed to the State Government to improve current arrangements made for their feeding.

    Some of the IDPs told newsmen at the Teacher’s Village camp in Maiduguri, that current feeding arrangement in the camp was not favourable to them.

    The IDPs particularly accused the State Emergency Management Agency [SEMA] of diverting food meant for them.

    One of the inmates, Hajja Falmata Bukar noted that the commendable efforts of the Federal and Borno Governments of providing adequate food for their feeding was being frustrated by the SEMA officials.

    “We all know that the Federal Government had been supplying large quantities of food for the feeding of the IDPs. The State Government has also been trying.

    “But the problem has to do with SEMA officials who are entrusted with the tasks of sharing the food to people living in the camps,” she said.

    According to her, SEMA officials have not supplied food to the IDPs for several weeks in spite of complaints.

    “For the past six weeks we have not gotten food supplies in this camp.

    “They rushed in some supplies when they realized that officials of the UN Security Council were coming on a visit,” Bukar claimed.

    She said that even then, the food supplied was inadequate.

    “When they abolished the centralized cooking for the IDPs, we were very happy, because we thought every IDP will now get enough food to feed his family.

    “But sadly, the problem has not abated as the food ration usually supplied to households is grossly inadequate,” Bukar said.

    She added:” How do you expect a family of six to survive for one month with a 25 kg bag of rice and two liter of cooking oil. This is grossly inadequate”.

    Malam Jumai Maisalati another IDP corroborated the claim saying that the problem had forced some IDPs to beg for food outside the camp to survive.

    “Many of us have turned into beggars because we have to get food to feed our children,” Maisalati said.

    She accused officials in charge of sharing the food of engaging in stealing.

    “They have been diverting food meant for the IDPs to the market.

    “We are appealing to the governor to intervene and ensure Justice,” Maisalati said.

    Mallam Musa Bello, another IDP said the best option was to handover the camp to the World Food Program (WFP).

    “We want the State Government to allow the WFP take over the feeding in the camp, like the case in some camps.

    “I am saying this because the IDPs been fed by the WFP are hundred times better than us,” Bello. said.

    He also called for the removal of top management of SEMA, accusing them of mismanagement.

    “I think the only solution to the problem of poor feeding in IDP camps is for government to sack the management of SEMA and appoint a new one”.

    Reacting to the claims, the SEMA Chairman, Mallam Ahmad Satomi denied the allegation of diversion of food items meant for IDPs.

    “The allegation is untrue, non of our officials have ever engaged in flood diversion in camps.

    “The IDPs will always complain no matter what you give them, most of them sell their food ration as soon as they are given and continue to complain of hunger,” Satome said.