Norway to provide 250 crisis shelters for Borno fire victims

Group petitions NEMA over alleged neglect of Adamawa, Taraba IDPs
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has promised to build 250 emergency shelters for 4,000 households rendered homeless by fire in Gajiram, Borno State.

The inferno, which destroyed 50 per cent of the council headquarters of Nganzai last Thursday, pushed the people out to the open and tree shades.

Chairperson of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, disclosed this yesterday while briefing journalists on measures the directors of Rapid Assessment and Sympathy Mission (RASM) had taken to assist fire victims.

According to her, the rescue teams have assessed the people’s humanitarian needs with the distribution of 5,000 bags of corn flour and emergency shelters in Gajiram.

The state government, Presidential Committee for the Northeast Initiative (PCNI) and other partners, she said, will commence the distribution of relief materials and building of shelters this week.

Many people had been rendered homeless with the loss of their businesses before the intervention of rescue teams from Maiduguri, she lamented.

In a related development, Centre for Peace Education and Community Development (CEPEACECODE) has petitioned the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) over the deplorable conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Adamawa and Taraba states.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO) operating in the two states expressed dismay at the alleged neglect of the IDPs by the agency assigned with the responsibility of giving them succour.

The chief executive officer of the NGO, Joseph Gimba, signed a copy of the petition, which was made available to The Guardian in Jalingo yesterday.

Believing that the wrinkles on the faces of IDPs can still give way to smiles, Gimba stressed the need for the government at the centre to call NEMA to order.

Leaders of various groups in the two states concurred with the allegation that the agency abandoned the IDPs.