The diverse crises in northern states have left over 10,000 displaced
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), there are more than 10,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa states.
“The myriad conflicts in the three crisis-prone areas have left more than 10,000 homeless and they are now in various IDPs camps,” Alhassan Aliyu, NEMA’s North-Central Zonal Co-ordinator, said in Jos on Sunday.
According to him, 5,840 of the IDPs are currently camped in Nasarawa State, while about 3,000 from Yobe State are being sheltered by churches in Plateau State.
The NEMA official said the figure for IDPs from Benue State is inconclusive. A lot of people were killed and many more left homeless, following clashes between herdsmen and farmers and bombings by Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
“There has also been an influx of people from Benue and Nasarawa into each other’s territory, Aliyu said, explaining that camps in Benue were receiving IDPs from Nasarawa, while those in Nasarawa were receiving IDPs from Benue.
NEMA provided relief items to the IDPs, although Aliyu said the agency was having some problems managing Yobe IDPs quartered in Plateau, as they were not fully in camps.
“NEMA doesn’t want to reckon with individual IDPs; some people just take five or 10 IDPs into their homes but NEMA wants a situation where IDPs are located in camps which could be effectively reached and managed,” he said.
“Again, if the IDPs are inside churches, mosques or schools where they are accessible, that would also be good.”
– Dailytimes.com.ng
