NEMA distributes food items to 35, 000 displaced persons in Borno

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday began the distribution of food items to more than 35, 000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri.

Our correspondent reports that the affected persons were among the new arrivals displaced by the resurging Boko Haram attacks at Baga, Kruss Kawwa and adjourning communities in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno.

Cdr. Manga Danjuma, the Head of the NEMA Emergency Food Distribution programme, made the disclosure during the inauguration of the exercise at IDPs’ Teachers’ Village Camp, Maiduguri.

Danjuma disclosed that the items were distributed to the IDPs under a special intervention programme initiated by the Federal Government, to enhance quick response to humanitarian emergencies in Borno.

He said that relief items were distributed to 23,000 newly registered IDPs and 12,000 existing ones at the camp.

Manga explained that over 6,000 households would benefit from the February exercise at the Teachers Village Camp, adding that similar exercises would be conducted in 23 other camps and host communities in the state.

He noted that the special intervention was in continuation of the government’s efforts to alleviate their plight.

“It is a special emergency intervention to address humanitarian crisis caused by the recent conflict in northern Borno.

“Each of the households received 59.8 kilogramme of food items to sustain it for a period of one month.

“The IDPs were captured in the regular food distribution exercise being implemented monthly by NEMA.

“The agency had distributed food items to over 19,000 new arrival of IDPs in January at Teachers’ Village and Gubio IDPs camps.”

According to him, the agency, in collaboration with UN agencies and other humanitarian actors, was providing nutritional supplement to children and other vulnerable people in the camps.

Two members of the IDPs, who spoke to NAN, commended the agency for the gesture, adding that it would go a long way to mitigate their sufferings.

Mrs Yessa Waziri, a beneficiary, said she had received food and non-food items from the agency to enable her to take care of the needs of her children.

Waziri said that she fled her home in Baga took shelter at the Teachers Village IDPs camp in Maiduguri after the insurgents sacked the town.

“I came here with my children and other people from my village.

“I was registered at the camp in the past few weeks. In January, NEMA officials gave food and non-food items to us.

“I will use the items to feed my family,” she said, and commended the agency for the gesture.

Similarly, Bulama Nura, one of the IDPs leaders at the camp, said that the he was registered at the camp and received assistance from the agency.

Nura added that displaced persons from his community benefitted from the food distribution exercise, adding that the gesture would go a long way to cushion their sufferings.

He disclosed that ward and district heads from the affected areas had profiled affected persons who hailed from their respective domains and sensitised them against diversion of the items.