The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IDPs

  • IDPs: FG seeks stronger regional cooperation

    The Federal Government has called for stronger cooperation among the Lake Chad Basin countries, to ultimately defeat terrorism and fast track the resettlement of displaced people in the region.

    The Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the Lake Chad Basin Regional Protection Dialogue.

    He noted that the success so far recorded in the Northeast could be attributed to regional cooperation while stressing the need for sustained security architecture in the liberated communities.

    He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had embarked on a‎ tour of the Lake Chad Basin countries last year, with a view to bringing peace and stability to the region.

    The minister decried the fact that there are about 1.8 million IDPs in the country, while another 155, 000 live as refugees in Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

    He said Nigeria would continue to maintain zero tolerance for terrorism while working with the Lake Chad countries to uproot the menace of terrorism and return economic stability to the region.

    Dambazau expressed optimism that the Regional Protection Dialogue‎ would go a long way in addressing the security, humanitarian and economic challenges occasioned by crisis in the region.

    He pledged Nigeria’s readiness to lead in the formation and implementation of a comprehensive action plan to address the protection and humanitarian challenges in the region.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day Regional Protection Dialogue on the Lake Chad Basin was attended by senior officials from the United Nations, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

  • Sterling Bank fetes IDPs in Jos

    Sterling Bank fetes IDPs in Jos

    It was all smiles for children at the Internally Displayed Persons (IDPs Camp) in Jos, the Plateau State Capital as top Management of Sterling Bank Plc joined them in the celebration of the 2016 Children’s Day.

    Apart from celebrating and dining with the children at the Camp, the Bank’s Management team, headed by its Executive Director, Finance and Strategy, Abubakar Sulaiman, represented by the Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Mr. Shina Atilola, also donated various food items, clothes and toys to the delight of the kids.

    In other activities to mark the day, the Bank according to a statement, also hosted students from both public and private schools to a party at its corporate head office in Lagos. The Bank also donated its financial literacy books; “Funds” and “My Little Money Book’ to the Lagos State Government for onward distribution to pupils and students of the schools in a bid to promote financial literacy among the students.

    Ensuring the online community was not left behind, a “selfie campaign” encouraging parents to post “selfies” taken with their children was initiated; family and friends of contestants were encouraged to vote and the top three posts were awarded prizes. A “selfie” is a photograph taken of oneself with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.

    Speaking at the reception held for the children in Lagos, Abubakar explained that as a responsible financial institution, the Bank will continue to support any worthy initiative that would impact children positively irrespective of the financial institutions the kids or parents bank with.

    At the IDP camp, the Bank’s Director stated that the kids were a product of circumstance. He therefore called on all to support these ones to ensure their dream of a bright future can become reality.

  • ‘169,834 Nigerian IDPs in Chad, Niger’

    ‘169,834 Nigerian IDPs in Chad, Niger’

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday said 169,834 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Nigeria were in camps in Cameroun, Niger and Chad.

    It said 80,709 are in IDP camps in Cameroun; 20,804 in Chad and 68,321 in Niger. The refugees are victims of insurgency, it said.

    NEMA’s Zonal Coordinator in Southwest Mr Sulaimon Yakubu said 2,155,618 IDPs fled from 352,840 homes in the North.

    Yakubu spoke in Lagos when he received donations from the Island Club: N2 million, clothes, diapers, bags of rice, iodised salt, measuring scales, flasks, bags, among others.

    The NEMA chief said 1,818,765 persons were directly displaced by insurgents and are  in 34 camps 12 states, with 75 per cent in Borno and Adamawa.

    Island Club Chairman Oladipo Okpeseyi said “the traumatic experience, horrendous damage to life and property of our brothers and sisters in the Northeast have degraded their human dignity, essence and self-worth that the Island Club cannot sit idly and do nothing,” he said.

     

  • IDPs resort to street begging in Hadejia

    IDPs resort to street begging in Hadejia

    Dozens of the victims of Boko Haram insurgency in Hadejia, Jigawa, have resorted to street begging in order to survive, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.

    NAN reports that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including women and children, were seen roaming streets, offices and market places in the area begging for alms.

    NAN checks showed that most of the IDPs were taking shelter in unoccupied stalls at Hadejia market due to lack of an approved camp in the area.

    Some of the IDPs, who hitherto took refuge in Hadejia, had however relocated to their homes due to improved security in Yobe and Borno.

    NAN also reports that though the population of the IPDs in Hadejia has decreased, their activities have continued to constitute public nuisance.

    Hadiza Bukar, one of the IDPs said she was forced to beg to get what to eat and feed her three children.

    Bukar said she fled to Hadejia after the insurgents sacked their village in Damasak, Yobe.

    Another IDP, Yagana Modu, said she could not locate her family since the insurgents attacked her home at Geidam area of Yobe.

    Modu said that she was evacuated to Hadejia by a Good Samaritan along with hundreds of other women and young children who survived the attack.

    She added that they had not been receiving assistance from the government or any organisation since they moved to the town two years ago.

    “I am surviving on alms, I do not like the idea, but begging is my last option, the people are generous and they support us,” she said.

    Alhaji Haruna Amadu, a resident of Hadejia, described the condition of the IDPs as “pathetic”.

    Amadu said that the IDPs were living under terrible conditions which exposed them to so many difficulties.

    He said in spite of the alms and food the IDPs get from the locals, it was necessary for government offer them succour.

    “There is a need for serious government intervention toward improving the plight of the IDPs” he said.

    He also called on organisations and wealthy individuals to support the IDPs to improve their living condition.

    An official of Hadejia Local Government Council, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said that the state government had conducted need assessment and head count of IDPs with a view to assisting them soon.

    He said that the state government had also provided transportation to Jigawa indigenes among the IDPs to enable them reunite with their families.

    According to him, some state governments had also evacuated their people among the IDPs in the area.

     

  • NYSC to deploy doctors, pharmacists, others to IDPs camps

    NYSC to deploy doctors, pharmacists, others to IDPs camps

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is to deploy medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps nationwide.

    The Director General of NYSC, Brig-Gen. Sule Kazaure, made this known Thursday while flagging-off the NYSC intervention programme at Damare IDPs camp in Yola.

    Kazaure said that the deployment of NYSC to the camps was part of the scheme’s contribution to government’s efforts in assisting the IDPs.

    “This programme, which is designed to bring succour to the inmates in this centre, is also intended to compliment government’s efforts towards provision of the welfare needs of members of IDPs nationwide.

    “The scheme, therefore, will deploy the services of corps professionals such as medical doctors, nurses, pharmacist, etc to the centre to assist Federal Government in the provision of medical and other sundry needs of the IDPs.

    “Specifically corps members will be participating in medical outreaches, environmental sanitation, educational intervention and general awareness creation on healthy living,” he said.

    Kazaure also said that the scheme would use the opportunity provided by the programme to distribute food items and other materials to the IDPs.

    He said that the flag-off of the intervention programme was his major official assignment outside Abuja and this was an indication of the importance the NYSC attached to the plight of the IDPs.

    Kazaure urged other wealthy Nigerians and corporate organisations to assist government in rehabilitating IDPs in the country.

    He commended the military, NEMA, Red Cross, NGOs and various faith based organisations for their contributions to welfare of IDPs.

    “I want to thank you all, especially, the corps members who despite all odds are currently serving in the state,” Kazaure said.

    The leader of IDPs in Damare camp, Mallam Modu Gana, lauded the intervention programme of the NYSC which he said was timely.

    Gov. Muhammadu Jibrilla of Adamawa and the State Coordinator of NEMA, Mr Sa’ad Bello, also lauded NYSC for the gesture, which they said, reflected one of the objectives of the scheme.

     

  • Japan to support IDPs with $1.45m

    The Japanese Government has said it would provide $1.45 million for a humanitarian response project designed to support the internally displaced women and children in Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe States.

    The Senior Assistant/Advisor on General Affairs, Information and Culture at the Japanese Embassy in Abuja, Mr. John Nwankwo, said this in a statement on Monday.

    He stated the project, tagged “Emergency Assistance to Internally Displaced Women/Girls and Survivors of Boko Haram Terrorism Attacks in Nigeria,” was in partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

    He said the project is a one-year initiative spanning 2016-2017and targeting selected areas in Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe states.

    Nwankwo added that the aim of the project was to strengthen emergency assistance initiatives to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), especially women and girls and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the target areas.

    It was also aimed at improving the economic capacity and social rehabilitation of women affected by crisis for peaceful cohabitation in target areas, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.

     

  • Boko Haram: Two million Nigerians in IDPs camps, says NEMA

    Boko Haram: Two million Nigerians in IDPs camps, says NEMA

    •They’ll return home soon, says Dogara

    An estimated two million Nigerians displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency are living in Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPS) camps in six NorthEast States, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said yesterday.

    Yola Camp Coordinator Saas Bello stated this at the weekend after taking United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Samanthan Power, round the facilities at the Malkohi IDP Camp in Yola, Adamawa State.

    Bello, who represented NEMA Director General Sani Sidi, gave the figure of the IDPs in Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi and Adamawa states as 1, 934, 765, who he said are living in formal camps, host communities and satellite  camps in liberated communities.

    According to him, there were “32 formal camps in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States with a total of 189, 783  IDPs.  Borno has 19 camps with 150, 858 IDPs; Yobe has nine camps with 31, 988 IDPs and Adamawa four camps with 6, 937 IDPs.

    The Camp Coordinator added that there were 14 satellite camps in liberated communities, mainly in Borno State   with 216, 184 IDPs. The camps with the highest population are Ngala with 70, 505; Dikwa 53, 636; Bama 27, 000 and Damboa/Sabon Gari  25, 311.

    Saad said  host communities in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states have 1, 391, 613 IDPs. Borno state has the highest with 1, 158, 362; Adamawa 125, 689 and  Yobe 107, 562.

    He said the “Federal Government through the coordinating agency, NEMA and relevant line Ministries, Departments and Agencies have been trying to meet the needs of the IDPs in the provision of food, nutrition, non-food items (NFIs), temporary shelter, medicament, psycho-social therapy, security and protection.

    He said as “the government continued in the efforts to meet the needs of the IDPs, more support were critically required for the IDPs across the three identified kinds of camps before they returned to their communities.

    “The critical areas where further support is needed are food, non-food items (including basic household needs), shelter, WASH, education, nutrition, protection, health and sexual reproductive health, and psycho-social helps.”

    Ambassador Power, who led said her team was there to determine what more could be done to defeat Boko haram so that they can return to their communities.

    “I know how difficult these last years have been for you and on behalf of President Barack  Obama,  I express my sympathy and my  condolences for  all  you have lost and our  resolve to try to make things better together”, she said.

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara also visited the Yola IDPs camp at the weekend where he told the displaced persons that the government would soon facilitate their return home.

    He also visited the Lamido of Adamawa at his palace and expressed his support for a constitutional role for monarchs because of their importance.

    He said traditional rulers are better placed to help bring about change  and transformation in the society as custodians of culture.

    Dogara said more than ever before, the present administration is committed to tackling the various challenges facing the country

    He said: “We want to implore you Your Royal Highness, as in the National Assembly we strive to give a role to traditional institutions; our leaders, our fathers, and parents that are in charge of these institutions must rise to the occasion as well.

    “And I know that there is place for ideas when it comes to peace building, and that is what has eluded us in this region of Nigeria. These ideas are better inculcated in people when they are young.”

    “Government cannot force peace, peace is always something like a tradition, a culture, that must be embraced by individuals.”

    “So even though it is difficult to raise non-violent children, but at least at the level of traditional institutions with the discipline that we were brought on, we can teach young people, children, young girls, young men, to express immediate signs of disapproval when they witness instant violence.

    Dogara said good teaching, could produce citizens that are committed to dialogue, regardless of differences in terms of tribe and religion.

    The Lamido, Dr. Mohammadu Barkindo Mustapha called on the Executive and the Legislature to work to deliver on their mandate by putting their differences aside.

  • 17,000 bags of rice for IDPs saved in Lagos fire

    The Federal Operation Unit, Zone ‘A’ Ikeja, of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the weekend saved 17,000 of the 18,000 bags of rice stored at the unit’s warehouse for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    But NCS, it was gathered, could not determine the cause of the fire, which burnt goods estimated at billions of naira, at the time of this report last night.

    Some of the burnt items included expensive imported textiles materials, shoes, bags, new and used clothes and used tyres (tokunboh).

    The items, it was learnt, contributed to the big damage done to the training school and the warehouse.

    The unit’s Public Relation Officer (PRO), Mr Uche Ejesieme, told our reporter that the NCS was awaiting the preliminary report from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).

    As of 9.30 am yesterday, officials of the Lagos State Fire Service and LASEMA were still battling to contain the fire from extending to other parts of the compound and the generator house.

    Half of the training school building had collapsed.

    The fire, the spokesman said, started on Friday after Customs officers from the unit moved over 90 per cent bags of rice in the North.

  • Chibok girls will be found soon- Shettima

    Chibok girls will be found soon- Shettima

    The governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima disclosed Tuesday that the 276 Chibok girls who were abducted on April 14th 2014 will soon be united with their families.

    Shettima disclosed this during a visit to the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA in Abuja, stating that  based on the information at his disposal the Chibok girls are still alive.

    He said, “I am an optimist, and based on the information at our disposal the Chibok girls are still alive and will be united with their families soon, we are hopeful that the girls will be recovered.

    He said, “Though security falls within the area of responsibility of the federal government, the government is doing all it can not only to rescue the girls but to care for the well-being of the generality of the people. We have started rebuilding most of the communities; we are determined to rebuild all.

    “The military has been doing so much in the past week, which led to the influx of IDPs to our camps, presently because of the successes by the military we have over 75000 IDPs in Zifar, 28,000 in Bama, 38000 in Banki town, 27000 in Polka, right now there is an inflow of 2,300 people to Gusa today which necessitated the visit to NEMA to solicit for the usual assistance.

    “As a state government we are doing our best, but NEMA has been our partner in taking care of the IDPs for the past one to two years. Within the Maiduguri metropolis alone, apart from the IDPs in the camps we have 1.7million people within the host communities. Even in the best of times our people were the poorest of the poor, and Boko Haram has further compounded the problem.

    “Our visit is to solicit NEMA support towards the current government; we need the support of NEMA in whatever way they can assist. Though we have reached out to so many organizations, but this is where the real support lies. Borno is free now, though there are hiccups here and there, but not like before again. I am not saying they are completely liberated. Peace is gradually returning to the state. By the end of the year the people will return to their homes.

    The Director General of NEMA, Muhammed Sani Sidi assured the governor of NEMA assistance at all times and promise to immediately move to assist in the influx of IDPs in the state.

  • Oshiomhole builds school for IDPs in Edo

    Oshiomhole builds school for IDPs in Edo

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has built four blocks of classrooms for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Uhogua, Ovia Northeast Local Government.

    The classrooms have been equipped with a staff room, headmaster’s office, marble floors, ceiling fans, white boards and other facilities.

    The governor said children at the camp must acquire effective education to properly navigate through the rigours of life.

    He noted that failure to do so would have implications for the future.

    Oshiomhole spoke at the weekend during the inspection of newly built classroom blocks at the IDP camp.

    He said: “If you look at these buildings, you look at the floor, you look at the glass and everything else, you realise that for the next decade, all we need is to clean and maintain. The kids in this kind of classroom will behave according to the feeling of their environment. They will feel privileged and act decently.

    “Except the child decides otherwise, he has every incentive to want to go to school, to remain in school. The teacher is happy to come to work. He is proud of his office; he is proud of his classroom. He has a white board to use the marker, the same marker they use in Japan, in America and in the United Kingdom.