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NEMA targets 63,966 IDPs for food distribution

By Njadvara Musa, Damaturu
15 July 2017   |   3:54 am
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is targeting 63, 966 households for the distribution of relief food items to 373, 479 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) currently taking refuge in resettlement camps and communities in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

IDPs. PHOTO: GETTYOMAGES

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is targeting 63, 966 households for the distribution of relief food items to 373, 479 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) currently taking refuge in resettlement camps and communities in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

The assorted food items to be distributed under the Federal Government Emergency Food Initiatives (FG-EFI), comprise 40, 000 metric tons (800, 000 bags) of assorted grains, the traditional staple food items among displaced persons.

The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Maihaja, disclosed this yesterday in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, in a “situation report update” on state of displaced persons in the northeast.

“NEMA, in partnership with the State Emergency Management Agencies(SEMA), volunteers and some IDPs, in the past one month have been enumerating and distributing food items to the affected persons at their doorsteps in camps and host communities of three affected states,” said the report made available to journalists.

A breakdown of food items to be distributed indicated that 144,406 displaced persons, representing 24,068 households, were enumerated in Yobe, while in Adamawa, a total of 17,892 IDPs, representing 4,656 households, have also been enumerated.

Maihaja, in the report further disclosed that Borno, being the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency, has 211,451 registered IDPs of 35,242 households in the ongoing FG-EFI in the region.

“We have commenced distribution of food items in Yobe and Borno states and the target was to reach over 18,000 households with relief food items at Monguno Teachers Village, Bakassi, Dalori II, Magcolis and Goni Kachalari IDPs resettlement camps.

“The distribution is still on going in Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ekilisiya Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) and Farm Centre IDPs camps. The enumeration in Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba states is starting next week.

“One of the critical aspects of the intervention was to confirm the number of displaced persons in various states in the region for effective planning and ensure effectiveness of the programmes,” the report said.

Maihaja, however, noted that since the commencement of the exercise, no loss or diversion of food items have been recorded, while an unprecedented delivery success rate have been achieved.

The challenges in the distribution exercise, according to the report, are delays in the milling of maize grains to Masavita and Masaflour for IDPs’ conveniences, acquiring of new warehouses and the rainy season, which affected the smooth distribution of food items by trucks.

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on June 8, this year flagged off the food distribution project in Maiduguri with door-to-door deliveries of items in camps and host communities.

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