…As agency provides relief items to 16,000 displaced in Taraba

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has dispatched relief materials worth millions of naira for the displaced persons at Ibi, Wukari and Gassol Local Government Areas in Taraba state.

The effort is to provide succor to those affected by recent Ethno-Religious and Communal conflict in which scores of death was recorded, with many others injured and displaced including destruction of houses, shops and other valuable assets in the state.

The Agency’s Gombe Operations Office recorded over 16,000 displacements whom are mostly women, children and vulnerable ones by the recent crisis, which it said affected about 21 communities in four (4) Local Government areas of the state.

Information obtained from the agency’s website said the crisis had also forced residents to flee their homes and seek for refuge in the neighboring communities in Taraba, Benue, Nassarawa and Plateau states.

It explained that “So far now, NEMA in collaboration with officials from SEMA and Redcross has registered over (16,000) Sixteen Thousand IDPs and we are still recording more spread in various camps located at Muslim Council Secretariat Jalingo, Housing estate Mutum-Biyu, Coucil secretariat and Catholic church Bali, Central primary school Ibi, Wukari, and Gashaka among others even as camp Management and Coordination is still on-going.”

Meanwhile, The Director-General NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, directed the Head of Gombe Operations Office of NEMA to deploy more items to the affected persons considering the magnitude and the number of displacements in the area.

Sani-Sidi said the effort was to cushion the effect of the heavy losses suffered by residents, including food and non food items and task the team to properly manage the existing camps in all locations in order to avoid outbreak of epidemics.