By Mohammed Kandi
Following the incessant attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents especially in the North-West region of the country, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday disclosed that it has so far recorded 981, 416 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) nationwide.
The Director-General of the Agency, Muhammad Sani Sidi made the disclosure when he received a delegation of officials from the West African wing of the USAID yesterday in Abuja.
Sani Sidi, who informed that the insurgency was a huge challenge confronting Nigeria, however, stated that his Agency was doing its best in providing the IDPs with timely support to cushion the effect of the situation.
According to the DG, President Goodluck Jonathan had directed NEMA to urgently establish a humanitarian outfit at all the military camps meant for the IDPs in the affected region.
Admitting that the Agency needed more technical support from the international community that possesses expertise on insurgency, Sani Sidi also assured of NENA’s readiness to collaborate with any organization that could help to curtail the country’s ongoing security challenge.
He explained that the Agency was on top of the situation in reaching out to the affected communities through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), as well as the Local Government Committee on Emergency Management.
In a presentation packaged by NEMA, Mr Awwal Abubakar, who displayed footage of activities at various IDPs camps, explained the level of government intervention ongoing saying several schools have been reconstructed via the Safe School Initiative in the region.
“120, 077 students were affected including 7, 135 in Adamawa, 113, 635 in Borno and 73, 894 in Yobe state,” He explained
Abubakar also recalled that insurgency began in 2009, saying, “115 schools have been destroyed in the process.”
