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Tag: Internally Displaced Persons

  • Institute to partner Yobe on peace

    Institute to partner Yobe on peace

    The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, on Friday said it would partner the Yobe government on sustainable peace and conflict resolution as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returned to their communities.

    Prof. Oshita Oshita, the Institute’s Director-General, stated this at a meeting with stakeholders in Damaturu.

    He told the Commissioner for Justice, Ahmed Mustapha, that there was need to have relevant laws to protect the IDPs, as they returned to their communities.

    Similarly, the Director-General also solicited for partnership with the Ministry of Information to use the state Radio and Television Stations to pass the message of peace and peaceful coexistence to the people of the state.

    Responding separately, Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha and Alhaji Mala Musti, commissioners for Justice and Information, respectively, pledged to support the programme to promote peace in the state.

  • Nobody can stop our investigation, Shehu Sani tells APC

    Nobody can stop our investigation, Shehu Sani tells APC

    Chairman of the Senate adhoc Committee on the humanitarian crisis in the north east Senator Shehu Sani said Tuesday that nobody can stop his committee from completing its investigation of the misappropriation of funds budgeted for internally displaced persons in the region.

    Sani who held a two hours meeting with the leadership of the All progressives Congress (APC) told newsmen at the party national secretariat that the final report of his committee will be ready when the senate resume from break, pointing out the committee will continue to carry on with its investigations.

    The party leaders told the outspoken Senators that they were not comfortable with members of the party washing their dirty linens in public.

    He said the leadership of the party assured him that they were not opposed to the investigations being carried out by his committee, but were not comfortable with his choice of word while speaking on the floor of the senate and asked him to tone down his choice of words.

    He said further that his use of deodorant was just a mere a clear definition of the bipolar nature of the anti-corruption crusade going on in the country, adding that “I believe that there is the need for Nigerians to wake up to these realities.”

    Sani who said that the party was fully in support of the ongoing investigation by his committee said the leadership of the party also told him that what they are against is members of the party washing their dirty lining in public.

    He said: “First, it is good to make clarification. The party did not write to invite me here for a meeting contrary to reports. But with my presence here, we have discussed a number of issues.

    The first is the need for unity in the APC caucus and the need for us to refocus ourselves. Since the two groups, the Like Minds and the Unity Forum have fussed to together.

    “The second is what transpired after the interim report which I submitted on the floor of the senate. First, I wanted clarification from them whether the party is opposed to the looting of the funds of the Presidential Initiative on the humanitarian crisis in the north east.

    “They said the party is not opposed to it. I also ask if the party is opposed to my interim report and they said no and so, I ask what their issues were. They told me that they are worried and concerned each time I fire some grammar in the senate and it shock and rattles them while destroying the solidarity within the party and they want me to slow down on some of these  missiles. I told them that it is either my honour or that of the letter that was sent by the Presidency.
    “I did not in any way attack the President, but I faulted the letter based on three issues. First, my name was omitted in the letter as Chairman of the Senate adhoc committee. Secondly, the SGF said we didn’t invite him, but we did invite him and thirdly, the letter said there was no quorum.

    “I told them that in as much as my comment in deodorant and insecticide was rattling they should have invited the SGF to the senate.

    “They said they don’t want us to wash our dirty linings in the public and I told them, that at the end of the day, even if you wash your dirty linings inside the room, you will still have to dry the, outside.

    “I made clarifications that they are not opposed to corruption investigations, but they are worried by the missiles I used which are causing a lot of discomfort. I told them I was only using literary expression to send my message.

    “I made it clear to them that we are going to do our own report and continue to do it. I am glad that they are not opposed to our investigation and they are also not opposed to the continuation of our investigation.

    “I am an activist and my statement is my statement and it is very clear. I think we owe our loyalty to three things. These are our conscience, our conviction and to our country and any other thing can come secondary.

    “What we should also know is that if you love a person, you tell him the truth and I believe if we as a government and as a party cannot tell ourselves the truth, then we have lost the moral right and authority to tell others the truth.

    “We are investigating the massive misappropriation of funds for IDPs in the north east. Nobody can stop that. We are determined to do our work and have done an interim report and we are going to come out with the full detail after this break and nobody in the party has said he is opposed to it. But I think that their major concern was my grammar.”

    On the resolution of the senate asking for the sacking of the SGF, he said: “Sacking the SGF is not about Shehu Sani, but about the resolution of the senate and what they said is binding on me.

    If the senate says he should go, I share in that position and if they say he should remain, I share in that position too.

    “I didn’t ask to be named chairman of the adhoc committee and did not even know I was going to be in the committee. I was appointed and I have to do my job as it is and once I am done, I am out of it.”

  • Shock, sadness as Reps seek probe IDP camp bombing

    Shock, sadness as Reps seek probe IDP camp bombing

    Divergent opinions of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) were expressed by members of the House of Representatives yesterday following Tuesday’s accidental bombing of an Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) camp in Rann, Kale Balge Local Government Area of Borno State.

    With scores reportedly dead and hundreds injured, the lawmakers were in support of a thorough investigation of the incidence with a view of preventing future occurrence.

    Several others said the NAF should not be condemned as such unfortunate incidences are not uncommon in conflict situations.

    Following the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance on the accidental bombing by Sani Zorro (APC, Jigawa), the House resolved to constitute a 10-member Committee selected from committees on IDPs, Refugees and Initiatives on the North East, Army,  Air Force, Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Assistance and Health Services to among other things:

    Visit the scene of the disaster and ascertain the level of response of emergency assistance needed by the surviving victims of the air strike and members of their immediate families.

    Ascertain the extent to which emergency and adequate health services are being extended to the surviving victims of the mishap.

    In his submission, Zorro noted with regret and sadness the deaths of yet-to-be ascertained the number of internally displaced persons (IDP) and injury suffered by hundreds of others including humanitarian workers following the accidental air raid on an IDP site at Rann, Kale Balge Local government areas of Borno State.

    According to him the preliminary explanation by the Armed Forces command was that the incident was not a deliberate act of targeting, nor a hostile act on the civilian population whose lives it had the duty to safeguard and protect.

    He said: “While we are aware of claims and counter claims among humanitarian actors and the media surrounding the actual casualty figure so far recorded in the wake of the incident, we should be mindful of the need to ascertain whether the air strike was in accordance with strict observance of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) under air law and as enshrined under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), otherwise known as the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC)”.

    While many of the lawmakers described the incidence as sad, unfortunate and irresponsible of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), a few said the incidence was not enough to jump into conclusion and condemn the military.

    Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) argued that the country has never recorded any instance of deliberate incidence like this. “What we should ask for at this point in time is what measures to put be in place to prevent reoccurrence

    “We should not subject the NAF to such demeaning condemnation and I don’t see the need for any investigation.

    “The House should rather call on the Armed Forces to take appropriate measure to avert such reoccurrence and brief the House on such measures”.

    Emmanuel Oker-Jev (APC, Benue) speaking in the same vein, however, emphasised that it will be unfortunate to conclude that the incidence was deliberate.

    “What is needed to be done is to improve their intelligence gathering because wrong intelligence report can lead to disaster.

    “The Borno incidence is unfortunate but can happen anywhere, this should not lead to condemnation of our military”.

    Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma (PDP, Edo) it was no time to point fingers and castigate the military which makes the investigation of the incidence inevitable.

    “How do we know if it was an error or otherwise? We should not jump into conclusion and this is not the time to point fingers and castigate anyone. The investigation should be conducted with no sentiments”.

    Mohammed Sani (APC, Bauchi) said though the incidence was unfortunate, issue of friendly fire is not uncommon in situations like this.

    He said major concern should be on the quality of intelligence gathering among and within the security agencies should be questioned, because the level of error should be zero or minimal.

    He canvassed for proper coordination and intelligence sharing among securiry agencies as well as proper administration and delineation of IDP camps.

    Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje (PDP, Abia) said, “Only recently our military was celebrated over the capture of Sambisa but we should know this is not a conventional war. The entire intelligence coordination of our security agencies should be looked into”.

    Nasir Ali Ahmed (APC, Kano ) also noted that with all their sophistication many advanced countries have recorded collateral damages during conflicts. “Proper marking or mapping of IDP camps would have prevented this incidence,” he added.

    Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) said the military has performed well in the past but regretted the incidence as unfortunate. “Other IDPs are now apprehensive because they feel they might be mistaken for insurgents.
    NAF should be more cautious
    Investigate,” he noted.

    On the other hand, Anayo Nnebe (PDP, Anambra) described the incidence as sad and irresponsible of the NAF to say it was accidental. “NAF has not done well, there is need to investigate it thoroughly,” he added.

    Shuaibu Abdulrahman (APC, Adamawa) said the accidental bombing was pathetic at a time the military was being praised for doing well in the Northeast. “We need to know if it was really an accident,” he said.

    On his part, Aminu Shagari (APC, Sokoto) noted that the Nigerian military has always  been very careful in their operations, “That is why it should be investigated to find out if it was deliberate, negligence or an error, so that appropriate punishment is served to serve as deterrence,” he said.

    The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

    Similarly, the House also condemned the twin bomb d blasts by Boko Haram at the University of Maiduguri Monday and have urged the security agencies in the State to intensify intelligence gathering operations with adequate protective measures put in place around tertiary institutions in Borno State to avoid the occurrence of a similar attack.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was also urged to pay the medical expenses of the injured persons.

  • Senate committee calls for improved response to the North-East crisis

    Senate committee calls for improved response to the North-East crisis

    A call has gone out to the Federal and state governments to ensure improved coordination and synergy for the well being of the Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.

    The Ad-hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis headed by Sen. Shehu Sani made the call on Tuesday at a public hearing in Abuja.

    He said that the synergy became necessary to make life comfortable for the IDPs.

    Sani said, “ The suffering of the IDPs was not as a result of lack of funds, donations or lack of empathy.

    “It is due to lack of coordination and synergy in the laudable initiatives of humanitarian crisis management by both state and federal governments.’’

    “The lack of coordination can be seen in the executive’s intervention initiatives,’’ the said.

    He noted that the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative was designed to integrate all actors and actions of humanitarian crisis management into one coordinated national roadmap.

    He, however, observed that it had been operating independently from yet another committee.

    Sani decried that IDPs were faced with multiple challenges, including lack of food, shelter and clothing and sexual abuse among women and diversion of humanitarian materials by “some unscrupulous agents of devils.”

    He, however, noted with delight that international donor agencies were scaling up their humanitarian responses to the starving and malnourished children in the North-East.

    Declaring the session open, President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki also stressed the need by stakeholders to strengthen humanitarian response coordination to ensure life-saving assistance to about 5 million people.

    The Deputy Senate President, Sen.Ike Ekweremadu, represented the Saraki at the occasion.

    Saraki was represented by said that it was time for the government to give a clear directive on which organisation was supposed to be the lead agency to coordinate the response to the ongoing crisis.

    “Currently, there are two agencies the international community has been told to liaise with for the purposes of coordination.

    “This is not a sustainable or functional solution. I hope the government can move expeditiously to harmonise the necessary efforts with international partners,” Saraki said.

    He said that with lean resources and as responsible representatives of the people, the legislators must ensure that the resources set aside for the improvement of the life of the IDPs were judiciously applied.

  • Chicken pox, scabies outbreak hit Edo IDP camp

    Management of the Internally Displaced Persons camp at Uhogua village in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State has raised alarm over outbreak of chicken pox and scabies in the camp.

    It said about 1000 children at the camp have been infected.

    The affected children are now being quarantined at a corner of the camp.

    Coordinator of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folunsho, told newsmen that the camp is in need of health workers and support from philanthropists and government to deal with the scale of infection.

    Pastor Folunsho said facilities at the camp are overstretched as food has become a big challenge.

    He said he spent N40, 000 naira daily to buy diesel, petrol to provide water and electricity.

    Pastor Folunsho called for support from government and the general public to help deal with the health challenges at the center.

    He said majority of IDPs have made strides in their educational pursuit and appealed for more assistance in the areas of writing materials and books.

  • 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.

     

  • Boko Haram: Japan budgets $1.45m for women, girls, others

    Boko Haram: Japan budgets $1.45m for women, girls, others

    The Government of Japan in partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has announced a $1.45 million initiative for women and girls in Internally Displaced Persons and other survivors of Boko Haram in the North East of Nigeria.

    The initiative according to a statement issued by the Japanese embassy in Abuja, is strategically designed to Strengthen emergency assistance initiatives to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), especially women/girls and survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in target areas amongst other things.

    The project, which is targeted at selected areas in Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe states is a one-year initiative (2016-2017), wholly funded by the Government of Japan to the tune of 1,450,000 USD and it will be implemented by UN Women, in partnership with relevant Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), CSOs and other Development Agencies amongst other stakeholders.

    The Humanitarian Response project, the statement stated “will complement an on-going Women Peace and Security Programme in Northern Nigeria, being implemented by UN Women and other partners, while also enhancing collaborative interventions between the Government of Japan and Nigeria.”

    Gender mainstreaming it in humanitarian response, it argued  is undoubtedly central to an inclusive, effective, efficient and sustainable support and recovery programme for IDPs in Nigeria.

    “The management of UN Women, and Government of Japan and Nigeria remain committed to this course for attainment of sustainable peace and development in Nigeria,” the statement further said.

     

  • We are rebuilding our lives – Yobe IDPs

    The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who relocated to their villages in Yobe said they have taken the challenge to rebuild their lives as normalcy had returned to the communities.

    Malam Bukar Ali, a returnee IDP told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Gujba, Yobe, that over 70 per cent of people who fled the village had returned.

    He said that “the presence of soldiers in the village had given us a sense of confidence and security to resettle and rebuild our lives.”

    Malam Mohammad Zanna, another returnee, said the provision of food items and rehabilitation of boreholes by the state government had cushioned the hardship of the returnees.

    He added that “when we came back, some of us were lucky to have our houses not destroyed but our major challenge was food and water because we abandoned our farms for two years, while the boreholes were vandalised.

    “We are happy that the state government, through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), has provided us with food items and rehabilitated the boreholes.”

    The Yobe Government last Friday distributed 600 bags of rice, 300 bags of millet, 300 bags of beans, 400 cartons of Indomie noodles, 100 cartons of vegetable oil, 100 cartons of toilet soaps, 600 pieces of nylon mats and 200 pieces of blankets to the returning IDPs in Katarko and Gujba.

    NAN reports that the five boreholes vandalised by insurgents had been rehabilitated and were currently serving the people.

    Meanwhile, Malam Modu Wakil, a community leader, said that the people were making preparations to resume farming activities as the cropping season would soon set in.

    He said “we are mostly farmers, we abandoned our farms for two years, we are now prepared to resume farming activities to rebuild our lives as normalcy has returned to our communities.”

     

  • Buhari seeks NGO’s support for IDPs

    Buhari seeks NGO’s support for IDPs

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday called on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and international aid agencies to complement the Federal Government’s efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.

    Speaking while receiving the Greek Medical Charity organisation, also known as ‘Heart Doctors’, at the State House, Abuja, President Buhari said that the Nigerian government was working hard to secure and rehabilitate communities ravaged by Boko Haram insurgents.

    Buhari in the statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said: “It is a pathetic situation we have.

    There are more than two million internally displaced persons, 70 percent of whom are women and children. Of these, 60 percent are orphaned children. “We are willing to work with organisations such as yours to quickly rehabilitate infrastructure, rebuild schools, medical clinics and destroyed homes,’’ the President said.

    He also told the visiting medical charity team that the task of rehabilitating IDPs in the region was enormous, but noted that with perseverance and commensurate resources such challenges are surmountable.

    The President thanked the Greek doctors for their humanitarian activities in the country and assured that his administration would welcome other spirited individuals and organisations with similar intentions.

    The leader of the Greek Medical Charity organization, Prof. Xenofan Yataganas, told the President that the organisation which commenced humanitarian work in Nigeria since 2002 has been involved in rebuilding schools and distributing medicines and food at IDP camps.

  • Photo : Saraki visits IDP camps in Maiduguri

    Photo : Saraki visits IDP camps in Maiduguri

    SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI; SEN. ALI NDUME AND GOV. KASHIM SHETTIMA OF BORNO, ADDRESSING INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs) DURING THEIR VISIT TO IDPs CAMP IN MAIDUGURI ON MONDAY.
    SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI; SEN. ALI NDUME AND GOV. KASHIM SHETTIMA
    OF BORNO, ADDRESSING INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs) DURING THEIR VISIT TO IDPs CAMP IN MAIDUGURI ON MONDAY.