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Tag: IDPs

  • Lawmaker helps IDPs

    Lawmaker helps IDPs

    Since the dissolution of their camps and integration into the society, the Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) in Gombe State have faced grim challenges. Some of those challenges include what to eat, renewing their house rents and getting schools for their children.

    Now, help has come their way in the form of food supplies sent by a member of the state House of Assembly, Rambi Ayala.

    Dinah Bashir from Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State who spoke on behalf of the IDPs, applauded Ayala for the gesture.

    Also speaking, Pastor Yohanna Dawa after appreciating the host communities for their kindness, also asked for more assistance from them. He bemoaned the IDPs rent challenges, calling for assistance in helping their children to get better schools. He also made a case for children orphaned by the insurgency.

    At least 200 bags of assorted grains went to some IDPs’ families in Billiri and Kwami local government areas of the state, courtesy of Ayala.

    ”It is a humble experience to give a shoulder for others to lean on. And by way of lending a helping hand, I felt that we should do something towards providing a shoulder for them (IDPs) to lean on, no matter how little,” said the legislator who made the donation under the auspices of his NGO, Healing Hands International in conjunction with Hope Spring International.

    He said the move was inspired by his visit to Yola about a month ago, following an invitation by a consortium of NGOs which articulated the plight of the displaced across the country.

    He said, “At Malkhori Camp, it was yet again another touching experience that will even move someone to tears. It was on that note that I reached out, we mobilised resources and sank a borehole in the camp.

    ”That visit or experience informed what is happening today (the grains distribution) or why we are gathered here today,” Honourable Rambi explained.

    He commended the governor of the state for his wisdom in integrating the IDPs in the state into the society in order to free them from stigma, give them a sense of belong in their various host communities, while taking care of the educational needs of their children.  He told the beneficiaries that the event was an indication of the wiliness to identify with them, assuring that it was just the beginning, as he would continually see and fashion out how to identify with them in his little and whatever way possible and for as long as time would allow.

    ”We feel your pains, we understand with you. We know what it means to be away from your homes. I was relating with one of the IDPs this morning, he told me how his eldest son, his wife and their child were literarily murdered in his presence.”

  • Borno to discharge over 2000 treated malnourished children

    Over two thousand children treated for severe acute malnutrition are set to be discharged from the Borno State Nursery village where they were admitted, the State Chairman of Emergency Management Agency, Engr. Satomi Ahmed has said.

    The Borno SEMA boss who spoke exclusively to our correspondent in Maiduguri disclosed that most of the children that were admitted in the centre with severe malnutrition problems have been stabilized and their parents are earner to return home which is why the authorities are considering to discharge them soonest.

    “There are about 2,011 children that were admitted at the Borno State Nursery Village which was established to take care of cases of malnutrition crisis that broke up in the State. Today, there is a drastic recovery in the conditions of the children. Most of them have been stabilized and are fully recovered and we don’t intend to keep them any longer at the facility because their parents are Esther to go back to Bama, their community. We will discharge them very soon,” Engr. Satomi disclosed.

    In a similar vein, Engr. Satomi also informed that Medicines San Frontier in collaboration with Borno State Government through the state ministry of Health is treating another set of malnourished children at Gonge and Maimusari malnutrition centers which are managed by MSF with a total population of 814 and 1,612 children respectively.

    The Borno SEMA boss also informed that through his initiatives, he has been able to organize SEMA in the state by the introduction of household feeding which according to him is more dignified that the central kitchen cooking system in the past where food were cooked with shovels etc.

    “We felt there were too many complaints about food, feeding and sharing among the IDPs in the camp. Because of the several complaints, I decided that food should be shared based on household instead of the central kitchen cooking system. Food was been cooked with shovels and you see people lining up to collect food which was very undignified.

    “With the introduction of the household feeding and food sharing, cooking in the camps has become more dignified and respectful. Apart from that, families cook and eat what they want any time unlike in the past, Engr. Satomi explained.

    He added that his efforts brought about the involvement of thematic line ministries in the state like ministries  of  Health; Education; Agriculture etc in the intervention and management programs of IDPs in the state which reduced the pressure on SEMA and made the interventions more impactful.

    Engr. Satomi disclosed that communication and proper coordination of INGOs in the state is still a challenge that his office is battling with. He therefore called on such organizations to liaise with SEMA in carrying out their activities so as to avoid duplication of efforts.

    He also commended Gov. Kashim Shettima for setting up the Humanitarian Response Committee which is head by the State Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Jida Shua, adding that the birth of the Committee has brought more rapid response to the needs of the IDPs in the state.

  • ICRC: Friends of IDPs, Chibok girls

    ICRC: Friends of IDPs, Chibok girls

    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is probably the best thing that has happened to internally displaced persons, reports DUKU JOEL

    With the release of 21 of the abducted Chibok, it has become clear that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is not just another global organisation trying to help people in danger.

    The ICRC and the Swiss government facilitated the return of the girls but even before the freedom of the girls, the organisation had been working very hard to bring succour to people in very dangerous situations.

    In 2016, the ICRC increased its humanitarian response for people in dire need in the North East. Of Nigeria and some other parts of the country where communal clashes and urban conflicts were visible. Of particular mention is the support and provision of food, shelter and essential household items. One other area of intervention carried out by the ICRC is increased access to clean water and medical care. It also strived to facilitate the restoration of missing or broken family ties caused as a result of the crisis in the region.

    In Borno State for instance, ICRC together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) gained access to very difficult areas like Sabon Gari, Damboa, DIKwa, Monguno, Gamboru-Ngala, etc where they assisted residents and IDPs with food, Medicare and shelter where necessary.

    An investigation into the activities of the ICRC in the North East by our correspondent revealed that the organisation is ranked very high amongst IDPs and many host communities of Borno and Yobe State apparently due to their effective humanitarian intervention during the Boko Haram crisis.

    Restoration of missing family ties

    Over one thousand disunited families as a result of the Boko Haram insurgents have been re-united in one way or the other  through the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross Society between January to August 2016 investigation has revealed.

    According to a document obtained from the ICRC, nine children were flown from Dar es Salaam IDP camp in Chad back to Nigeria and reunited with their parents.  The organization has also helped reunite family members by facilitating contacts with each other using Red Cross Messages and free phone calls.

    A total of 1,078 new tracing files for persons searching for missing relatives were opened by the ICRC and the NRCS, while a total of 479 Red Cross messages were also exchanged among separated family members.

    The document also revealed that 899 free phone calls were made available by the Red Cross to persons who were separated from their families.

    Detention visits

    ICRC have also embarked on visits of persons detained in connection with armed conflict and violence and provided support for the authorities on improving detention conditions of detainees. Under the period, a total of 21, 442 detainees in prisons, police and military detention facilities across Nigeria were visited by the ICRC, just as the water and hygiene facilities in those places were rehabilitated.

    Livelihood Support and Micro-finance Initiatives

    This is a Programme that targeted returnees who wished to resume farming in their communities, while cash was also given to people retuning to areas that there were functional markets to help them rebuild their homes. Its aim was to assist 162,000 IDPs and vulnerable persons living in widow or female headed household. Out of the number, 41,000 persons in Yobe received cash to purchase priority commodities by the end of July 2016, just as 16,000 returnees from Adamawa and Southern Borno were given livelihood input grant as well.

    A total of 248,037 returnees from North East and Middle Belt were availed with agriculturalinputs to resume farming again, while 69,624 IDPs in Borno and Yobe States including victims of urban violence in River State received cash to enable them purchase commodities of their choice.

    Widows/female heads of families enjoyed serious assistance from the ICRC as 1000 of them were registered Borno State and were given cash for the running of their families. An additional 250 benefiting from the micro-finance initiative.

    Emergency Relief Assistance

    One of the major concern of the ICRC was to get to the hard-to-reach areas there there was severe food shortage and hunger. With some of them missing out on the planting season for more than 3 years, it is not an exaggeration that the people will remain dependent  on  handouts aid from donor agencies until such a time that their crops are harvested. Worried by the plight of the ICRC provided food rations for three months to  892,040 IDPs in the North East, 319,516 IDPs both in the North East received essential household items with 51 NRCS, NEMA and SEMA were trained across Nigeria.

    Healthcare

    Like any other sector of human existence in the north east, the  health sector  had its fair share of the Boko Haram attacks on the region. Hospitals and health facilities were either burnt down or abandoned by the insurgents. Doctors, nurses and other health and medical personable were either killed, while those that survive fled to safer places leading to complete break down of the system.

    The ICRC in a quick response provided support to primary and mobile state health clinics in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa through the regular medical supplies, equipment supply and training of staff. Two ICRC surgical teams also provided cares the weapon wounded and IDPs in need of emergency surgical care in Maiduguri State Specialist Hospital.

    A total of 308, 594 patients attended 14 ICRC supported centre for primary health care and 6 mobile clinics serving IDPs, returnees and residents in Borno, and Adamawa State.

    A total of 10,499 children were in ICRC supported clinics in the North east, while 8,649 children who suffered from acute malnutrition were also treated at the ICRC supported clinics in Borno State.

  • How ICRC response impacted humanitarian needs of IDPs

    How ICRC response impacted humanitarian needs of IDPs

    While the armed violence in North Eastern Nigeria has affected millions of people, an estimated population of 2.1 million people are said to have been internally displaced with about 1.8million host population. This has also affected the Middle Belt which has suffered communal clashes just as the Niger Delta violence.

    The humanitarian Needs of these population has continue to double especially in the north east where some of the communities were completely taken over by the Boko Haram insurgents and were cut off from Medicare and food, resulting to acute malnutrition both in adult and children.

    While the situation continues to degenerate to an abysmal level ranging from lack of food leading to hunger, starvation and malnutrition both in adult and children; lack of Medicare services resulting to diseases and deaths among the displaced people, several humanitarian actors have engaged in interventions that would improve at least the living condition and health of the IDPs. One organization that has significantly scaled up its humanitarian response in the North east is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

    In 2016, the ICRC increased its humanitarian response for people in dire need in the North East of Nigeria and some other parts of the country where communal clashes and urban conflicts were visible. Of particular mention is the support and provision of food, shelter and essential household items. One other area of intervention carried out by the ICRC is increased access to clean water and medical care. It also strived to facilitate the restoration of missing or broken family ties caused as a result of the crisis in the region.

    In Borno state for instance, ICRC together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) gained access to very difficult areas like Sabon Gari, Damboa, DIKwa, Monguno, Gamboru-Ngala etc where they assisted residents and IDPs with food, Medicare and shelter where necessary.

    An investigation into the activities of the ICRC in the North East by our correspondent revealed that the organization is ranked very high amongst IDPs and many host communities of Borno and Yobe State apparently due to their effective humanitarian intervention during the Boko Haram crisis.

    Restoration of missing family ties

    Over one thousand disunited families as a result of the Boko Haram insurgents have been re-united in one way or the other  through the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross Society between January to August 2016 investigation has revealed.

    According to a document obtained from the ICRC, nine children were flown from Dar es Salaam IDP camp in Chad back to Nigeria and reunited with their parents. The organization has also helped reunite family members by facilitating contacts with each other using Red Cross Messages and free phone calls.

    A total of 1,078 new tracing files for persons searching for missing relatives were opened by the ICRC and the NRCS, while a total of 479 Red Cross messages were also exchanged among separated family members.

    The document also reveals that 899 free phone calls were made available by the Red Cross to persons who were separated from their families.

    Detention visits

    ICRC have also embarked on visits of persons detained in connection with armed conflict and violence and provided support for the authorities on improving detention conditions of detainees. Under the period, a total of 21, 442 detainees in prisons, police and military detention facilities across Nigeria were visited by the ICRC, just as the water and hygiene facilities in those places were rehabilitated.

    Livelihood Support and Micro-finance Initiatives

    This is a Program that targets returnees who wished to resume farming in their communities, while cash was also given to people retuning to areas that there are functioning market to help them rebuild their homes. Its aim was to assist 162,000 IDPs and vulnerable persons living in widow or female headed household. Out of the number, 41,000 persons in Yobe received cash to purchase priority commodities by the end of July 2016, just as 16,000 returnees from Adamawa and Southern Borno were given livelihood input grant as well.

    A total of 248,037 returnees from North East and Middle Belt were availed with agricultural inputs to resume farming again, while 69,624 IDPs in Borno and Yobe States including victims of urban violence in River State received cash to enable them purchase commodities of their choice.

    Widows/female heads of families enjoyed serious assistance from the ICRC as 1000 of them were registered Borno State and were given cash for the running of their families. An additional 250 benefited from the micro-finance initiative.

    Emergency Relief Assistance

    One of the major concerns of the ICRC was to get to the hard-to-reach areas where there was severe food shortage and hunger. With some of them missing out on the planting season for more than 3 years, it is not an exaggeration that the people will remain dependent on handouts aid from donor agencies until such a time that their crops are harvested. Worried by the plight, ICRC provided food rations for three months to 892,040 IDPs in the North East, 319,516 IDPs both in the North East received essential household items with 51 NRCS, NEMA and SEMA were trained across Nigeria.

     

    Healthcare

    Like any other sector of human existence in the north east, the health sector had its fair share of the Boko Haram attacks on the region. Hospitals and health facilities were either burnt down or abandoned by the insurgents. Doctors, nurses and other health and medical personable were either killed, while those that survive fled to safer places leading to complete breakdown of the system.

    The ICRC in a quick response provided support to primary and mobile state health clinics in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa through the regular medical supplies, equipment supply and training of staff. Two ICRC surgical teams also provided cares for the weapon wounded and IDPs in need of emergency surgical care in Maiduguri State Specialist Hospital.

    A total of 308, 594 patients attended 14 ICRC supported Centre’s for primary health care and 6 mobile clinics serving IDPs, returnees and residents in Borno and Adamawa State.

    A total of 10,499 children were in ICRC supported clinics in the North east, while 8,649 children who suffered from acute malnutrition were also treated at the ICRC supported clinics in Borno State.

    A total of 1,488 weapon wounded patients were treated by the ICRC surgical team in Maiduguri, out of whom 326 were hospitalized. In a similar effort, a total of 6,700 casualties were treated and evacuated by ICRC supported NRCS emergency first aid teams of the First Aid program in 15 state with a training for community first aid responders in those states.

    In addition, 2,425 people including military/police, religious groups, and weapon bearers also got a similar training. ICRC also provided mental health and psychosocial support to 158 IDPs in the region.

     

    Shelter, Water and Sanitation 

    Statistic has shown that only 10% of the over 2milliom IDPs are living in IDP camps with the rest staying in host communities.

    This has brought a lot of pressure on infrastructure both at the camps and in the communities with an excessive over-stretching of the existing facilities such as water and sanitation.

    This has prompted the ICRC to intervene in this area by improving access to good water and hygiene. Consequently, a total of 130,000 returnees in the North east including the Middle Belt were assisted to have access to improved water and their hygiene and sanitation conditions.

    In Adamawa and Borno States, a total of 24,800 IDPs living in camps received temporary or emergency shelter, while 1,400 returnees in Mubi (Adamawa) and 720 persons affected by communal clashes in Kaduna Bangai in Plateau state were supported by ICRC to rebuild their houses.

     

  • The IDPs debacle

    •If Boko Haram was a debacle the resulting IDPs matter is turning out a catastrophe

    We have been treated to different sordid tales about the internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps in the country. We have been regaled with news of inadequate facilities; medical care, food, clothing and even the congestion in those places. We read about how those who were supposed to get food across to the IDPs divert the items. If we thought that was the height of the anomalies in the camps, we were wrong. Reports emanating from the Bakassi camp in Maiduguri indicate an even more inhuman treatment of the IDPs.

    Of all basic human needs, food is key. When people are hungry, there is no limit to the extent of their desperation. This is what is playing out at the Bakassi camp, as some of the female IDPs are now forced to befriend the social workers serving them food so as to have access to enough rations for them, and particularly for their children. One of them is Amina Ali Pulka. The 30-year-old lady said she had to befriend a man who himself had been displaced by Boko Haram but was now fortunate to be working in the kitchen at the camp: “I did it because I had nobody to feed me or clothe me,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation on telephone. According to her, the man also gives her money to buy soap and other items.

    Medical charity International Medical Corps (IMC) and Nigerian research group NOI Polls said Pulka is not the only female IDP that is selling sex in exchange for food, toiletries and money. “At times, the food is not enough so the women resort to giving themselves for food and money,” said Hassana Pindar of the IMC, which runs support centres for women in the camps. Particularly distressing is that it is not only the adult females that are involved in this sexual abuse. Many teenage girls in the camp are also said to be sleeping with men for the same reason, said IMC volunteer Fatima Alhaji. “Some go out to beg on the streets, others go out of the camp to look for menial jobs, while others use their bodies to get food and money. Everybody is talking about it.”

    We should be alarmed at this unfortunate development, more so when aid agencies had warned earlier of an impending humanitarian crisis due to the dwindling food supplies for the displaced in Borno State. Management of the IDPs has been a long-running debacle. The situation becomes more deplorable by the day that it demands a more strategic and methodical response. We do not believe that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and its states’ counterpart, SEMA, have the capacity to resolve the IDPs palaver. They need a bit of help.

    The situation may require that government constitutes a committee of eminent persons/visitors who would pay frequent exploratory visits to the various camps and report back to the presidency. The IDPs problems should be taken a notch beyond the bureaucratic ambit of NEMA and SEMA.

    We also suggest that another committee should work on fast-tracking the resettlement of victims back to their homelands.

    We urge NEMA and other agencies on the field to rise to the occasion and mitigate the current global odium that Nigeria’s IDPs have become. While at it, every effort must be made to fish out the people, including its staff, exploiting hapless women and let them face the consequence. The trauma of being compulsorily sent out of one’s home by insurgents is bad enough; to now compound it by demanding sex from the hapless victims takes the inhumanity to an unconscionable level.

    The Federal Government must realise that the world has keen interest in the activities in the camps and should therefore move fast to stop the embarrassment.

  • Govt launches ‘Operation Back Home’ for IDPs

    The Federal Government will carry out a comprehensive survey of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to determine the actual number of persons displaced as it prepares to return them to their ancestral homes, it was learnt yesterday.

    Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, who addressed the management of the commission, said there are over two million persons displaced in the Northeast.

    She said the commission will make life comfortable for the IDPs, noting that for those not interested in returning home, the commission will make life comfortable for them.

    Hajiya Farouq said the commission will intensify efforts to rehabilitate victims and empower them in conjunction with governments and the international community.

    “We have about two million IDPs in the country and that is quite huge. The instruction by the President is very clear; we have a mandate and a vision and we will identify those areas that need our help. We will see to it that these IDPs go back home and continue with their lives.

    “We will include the IDPs in the FCT in whatever programme we have and the cardinal objective is to see to it that they return home and we have the political will to do that.

    “Our plan is to collaborate with strategic partners because we all have the same mission. We will work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the goal is met.

    “Now that the Boko Haram insurgency has been degraded, I appeal to the international community, patriotic Nigerians and you my colleagues in this commission to join in the Operation Back Home (OBH) for the IDPs.

    “OBH also includes Benue, Ekiti, Enugu, Zamfara and other states displaced by herdsmen, flood and sundry disasters. It is my view that IDPs are not only subjected to undue hunger and homelessness, but also dehumanised. We must put all hands on deck to provide them food, shelter and hope for better life. This is our task.”

  • Senate probes diversion of IDPs funds

    The Senate on Tuesday constituted an ad-hoc committee to investigate how much the Federal Government to the Presidential initiative on the North East.

    The 10-man committee headed by Senator Shehu Sani was also mandated to find out how the funds were utilized from the time of release to date.

    The upper chamber also expressed disappointment at the government poor handling of the humanitarian crisis in the area, especially in internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

    The lawmakers warned that unless immediate action was taken to salvage the worsening situation in the North East thousands of people in IDPs camps would die.

    The resolution followed the consideration and adoption of a motion titled: “Mounting humanitarian crisis in the North East,” sponsored by Senator Baba Kaka Garbai (Borno Central) and 17 others.

    The lawmakers said it was obvious that the federal government is failing in its duty to provide needed relief materials to IDPs to cushion the effects of lack of foods and other basic amenities in camps located in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.

    Senator Garbai in his lead debate said over 4.5 million people were in dire need of assistance while another one million people were in danger of extreme malnutrition.

    He noted that the Presidential initiative on the North East which was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari a year ago to manage the crisis, is yet to show tangible result on ground with over half of the money appropriated to it released.

     

     

  • MSF urges support for IDPs

    The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also called Doctors without Borders, on Friday appealed to the international community and donor agencies to provide support to hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno.

    The Head of MSF Emergency Response, Mr. Hugues Robert, said in a statement in Maiduguri that the humanitarian emergency in the Northeast was reaching catastrophic levels.

    He said a massive relief effort was needed immediately in remote areas as well as in the state capital.

    “The desperate living conditions in Borno show the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict between Boko Haram terrorists and the Nigerian military,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the MSF official as saying in the statement.

    “In several locations, people have sought refuge in towns or camps controlled by the military, and are entirely reliant on outside aid that does not reach them.

    “Although a nutrition emergency was declared three months ago, there has been a serious failure to help the people of Borno.

    “We are again calling for a massive relief effort to be deployed now.”

  • IDPs’ resettlement to begin in October

    The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has said relocation and resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) will begin in October.

    Assistant Director in charge of IDPs, Musa Kangiwa, gave the hint during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday.

    He said the commission embarked on a pre-relocation exercise across camps in the FCT to identify IDPs, who were ready to return home.

    He said the relocation of affected persons would begin on October 11, involving relevant stakeholders, adding that officials will consult with governors and community leaders in the Northeast to identify critical areas of intervention and partnership.

    “We will embark on the building and rebuilding of public infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and residential houses in two locations each in the affected states.

    “In Yobe, we will build houses in Buni Yadi and Gulani; Jere and Minoc in Borno; Mubi and Hong Local Governments in Adamawa.

    “We have empowerment programmes, such as training, distribution of implements to farmers, fishermen as well as capital to start their trades, and we are collaborating with several CSOs and NGOs like Doctors without Borders (MSF), to provide free medical test and generic drugs to the IDPs.

    “We are also working with psychologists to handle those with psycho-social issues, such as trauma, gender-based violence and the Social Investment Committee for missing persons to re-unite with their families,” Kangiwa said.

  • Bauchi to resettle IDPs

    The Bauchi State government has volunteered to resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at locations of their choice within the state.

    The government will also provide housing and other amenities, equip, and furnish the Permanent Displaced Persons’ Camp at Miya, Ganjuwa Local Government.

    Commissioner for Information Baba Madugu spoke when he met the Presidential Committee on the Northeast Initiative (PCNI) in Abuja.

    Madugu described his mission to PCNI as “a happy one”, adding that the state plans to empower the IDPs and their host communities through skill acquisition, handcraft and educational pursuit.

    “The government is determined to have the IDPs explore and exploit their potential to expand sources of revenue to the state and youth employment.