By Rabiu Sani
No fewer than 46,000 persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency have returned to Borno state, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said.
Alhaji Mustapha Maihaja , Director General of NEMA, who distributed relief materials to the displaced persons in Banki, Bama local government council of Borno on Saturday said the people fled to Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republic at the peak of the insurgency.
Maihaja said that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returned following the success recorded in the counter-insurgency campaign.
“About 46, 000 displaced persons are registered here and we are receiving them on a daily basis in small and large numbers.
“The Federal Government is responding to the humanitarian crisis in the North-East region.
“Our mission is to distribute relief materials, food and non-food items to Nigerians returning from Cameroun.’’
He said that government was aware that having secured the place and Borno in particular, the people who took refuge in border communities in Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republic would come back.
“The government adopted proactive steps to meet the needs and requirements of the affected persons in terms of shelter, food, health, growth. We are committed to improve their well-being,” he said.
Maihaja explained that the agency was responding promptly to the immediate needs of the returnees and distributed food items, mattresses, clothing materials And Mosquito Treated Nets.
He noted that the agency provides 8.4 kg of food items every month per household.
Maihaja also said the agency had adopted effective modalities to provide schools and clinics in the camps, to enable the affected children return to school, enhance hygiene and healthcare service delivery.
The director disclosed that the Federal Government has begun the distribution of 40,905 tonnes of assorted food items to displaced persons in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Taraba and Yobe States.
According to him, the agency had initiated a comprehensive tracking system to monitor vehicular movement and distribution of relief materials to guard against diversion.
Maihaja added that the agency had embarked on enumeration of IDPs and door-to-door distribution exercise to ensure that the affected families got the relief materials.
NAN reports that members of the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative, led by Rear Adm. A Z Gambo, supervised the food distribution at various camps in Banki, Bama, Maiduguri and liberated areas. (NAN)
