Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) has revealed that the state presently has a total of twenty Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps scattered across the State.
The Director-General of the Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Inga made this known to newsmen on Saturday when the Victims Support Fund (VSF) made an assessment tour to the Gwada IDP camp in Shiroro Local Government Area.
He explained that the burden of taking care of the IDPs is taking toll on the state government because of the dwindling resources of the state government as the government resources can no longer sustain the displaced people for a long time.
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He stated that due to the lean resources and economic hardship being experienced in the nation, the state is looking outward for kind-hearted persons and NGOs to assist saying,” the IDPs situation is not easy and has overwhelmed us.
” The state is not deriving its resources elsewhere as its resources come within the economy of the country. This is why we are calling on people to come so that we can partner and make the living conditions of these people better.”
Inga also revealed that majority of the displaced persons are still taking refuge at the camp because their communities are not safe for them to return.
” Most of them are from Kaure which is where the Boko Haram have hoisted their flag and we have not yet gotten security clearance that the place is safe for them to return. The government does not want to gamble with their lives by telling them to return when their homes are not safe.”
The Executive Director of the Victim Support Fund (VSF), Professor Nana Tanko, after taking an assessment tour around the Gwada IDP camp explained that the organization whose Chairman is Rtd. General Theophilus Danjuma will come to the aid of IDPs in the area of education, food among others.
“The area of interventions that we will look at would be education because a lot of the children are out of school, food and a means of livelyhood. Those are the areas we are going to look into and see how we can help.”
Expressing worries over the fact that it is only the state government and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that have reached out to the IDPs in the camp, she called on other humanitarian agencies and development partners to come to their aid.
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