Tag Archives: NEMA

NEMA Deploys Helicopter, Ambulances To Kaduna.

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has deployed a rescue helicopter, three Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) Ambulances and three Rapid Intervention Vehicles to Kaduna State.

This according to the agency is to join other stakeholders in providing support for emergency operations in the state, following the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

A statement issued on Friday by the spokesman for NEMA, Sani Datti, explained that the helicopter would be used for medical patrol, while the MICU ambulances with the Rapid Intervention Vehicles are stationed along Jere and Katari Towns, Kaduna-Abuja road and Kaduna International Airport.

“The MICU ambulances are used to administer first aid treatment and stabilisation for trauma victims on their way to the hospital, as it serves as a mobile hospital with the capacity to carry one critical and one less critical victim.

“The Rapid Intervention Vehicles are used for search and rescue, fight fire rapidly and extrication of victims trapped in accident vehicles or collapsed structures,” he said.

NEMA asked the public to contact it through its North West Zonal office at number 15 Wurno, Road Unguwan Sarki, Kaduna.

The agency said it can also be reached through its emergency call number: 0800CALLNEMA (080022556362) or the National Emergency Number 112, stressing that all calls are toll free.

 

Source: Channels TV

BREAKING: New batch of 171 Nigerians arrive Lagos airport from Libya

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A total of 171 Nigerians, comprising 95 females, including 12 girls, and 76 males, returned to the country from Libya on Tuesday.

They are currently at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, where they are being attended to by officials of Nigeria Immigration Service, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and some other agencies.

The plane, which conveyed them from the North African country, landed around 4:15pm.

Last week, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to the president on foreign affairs and diaspora, had said 180 Nigerians were being expected.

Three-hundred and- fourteen Nigerians have been forced to return to the country within two weeks, as a result of the harrowing experience in Libya.

Gift Peters, one of the returnees, had told reporters that she was deceived of being taken to Germany.

“When I got to Libya, it was not in my mind to continue with the journey. So I asked the person that took me to return me to Nigeria but he started maltreating me and sold me to someone who has a connection house in Libya where we were maltreated daily,” she had said.

“If we don’t want to work, they will start maltreating us. They will do something to you that you will wish to die.

“Those who they sold us to, sometimes, use iron and start burning us. At times, they will instruct our fellow ladies to urinate for us to drink.”

She said she eventually contacted her family in Nigeria and was fortunate to make it back alive, unlike many of her peers who joined her on the ill-fated journey.

Police, NEMA provide details of Maiduguri explosions

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The police and the National Emergency Management Agency, have given official casualty figures from the attack by Boko Haram on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Thursday night.

According to official accounts, the insurgents attempted to enter the city but were spotted at the outskirts by soldiers on guard duty who opened fire and killed many of them.

But two of the suicide bombers, both teenage girls, were able to sneak into the city and blow themselves up near a popular bus station called Muna Garage.

Witnesses said two other persons were killed in the Muna Garage blast that occurred at about 11 p.m. The police and NEMA, however, said only the suicide bombers died.

The spokesperson of the police in the state, Victor Isukwu, in a statement said 13 pickup vans loaded with goods ahead of the next day’s journey to the border areas were burnt down at Muna Garage.

NEMA said 14 trucks were involved in the incident.

“Yesterday at about 2318hrs, a suicide bomber sneaked into the midst of 13 pickup trucks loaded with goods along Maiduguri/Mafa road, said to be awaiting departure to Gamboru Ngala early hours of today, and detonated IEDs strapped on self”, the police spokesman said.

“The resulting explosion razed down the parked vehicles beyond recognition. EOD/Police patrol team was promptly deployed to the scene to restore safety & normalcy”.

Witnesses had earlier informed that soldiers repelled another attack, three hours after the Muna park explosions, during which six suspected suicide bombers were reportedly killed.

Mr. Isukwu said soldiers had in the night spotted some persons suspected to be insurgents on motorcycles and opened fire in their direction.

The spokesperson of NEMA, Sani Datti, in a separate statement said seven persons died but all of them were Boko Haram suicide bombers.

“Yesterday (Thursday) at around 11:00pm, Boko Haram members attempted to attack Maiduguri”, he said.

“They came through Mafa- Dikwa road along Muna community. The suicide bombers came in a Volkswagen Golf carrying eight suicide bombers most of whom were female teenagers.

“The driver attempted to overrun the security post where the security personnel were stationed, but few of the personnel sustained minor injuries, while the remaining bombers detonated their IED in some of the communities in Muna Dalti settlement.

“Seven (7) Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) sustained minor injuries and were taken to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). Some of the suicide bombers found their way to a place where people gathered with their trucks loaded with goods for onward movement to Mafa, Dikwa and Ngala LGAs.

“Over 14 loaded trucks were burnt by the suicide bombers, though no casualty was recorded. The seven corpses of the suicide bombers were evacuated to the State Specialist Hospital by NEMA and Borno SEMA team”.

Suicide Bombers’ Attempts on Mosque and Security Post Foiled In Borno

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Attempts by Suicide Bombers to attack a mosque and a security post in Borno State were foiled by vigilant security men and volunteers.

PRNigeria gathered that the incidents occurred at Usmanti and Kaleri area of Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.

The first attack occurred late midnight of Tuesday, January 24, 2017, when the suicide bomber targeted a security outpost in the area but was quickly spotted and was blown off after a shot from securitymen.  No casualty was involved except the male suicide bomber.

The second attempt occurred during the early morning prayer at 5:30 am today when two suicide bombers, a male, and female, attempted to enter a mosque while prayer was on.

They were spotted by security volunteers (Civilian JTF) who accosted them. The terrorists detonated their explosives which killed them on the spot and one security volunteer. Two other people were injured.

Meanwhile the Spokesperson of National Emergency Management Agency  (NEMA) in the North-East, Abdulkadir Ibrahim confirmed that rescue workers have evacuated the bodies to mortuary after the incidents.

 

Source: Sahara Reporters

NEMA confirms 20 killed, 10,000 displaced in Taraba communal clash.

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The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has confirmed that 20 persons lost their lives and about10,000 others were displaced in the recent communal clash in Dan-Anacha village in Gassol Local Government area of Taraba State.

Sa’ad Bello, the Agency’s Coordinator in charge of Adamawa and Taraba Operational Offices, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Yola.

Mr. Bello said that the displaced persons, mostly children and women, were camped in four camps in the state.

“So far, 20 people were killed and about 10,000 internally displaced in the recent communal crisis between farmers and herdsmen in Dan-Anacha village in Gassol LGA of Taraba State,” Mr. Bello said.

He said that the number of injured persons had not been ascertained.

Mr. Bello commended the efforts of Taraba State Emergency Management Agency for reaching out to the affected areas.

He said that NEMA was contacting security operatives on the safety situation to enable its members reach all affected areas with additional humanitarian assistance.

Media houses reported the violence which commenced on Saturday through Sunday.

Sources from the area said the crisis started on Saturday when two corpses of Fulanis were found killed in a bush. This triggered their kingpins carrying out reprisal attacks on Tivs, mostly farmers.

” I counted about 20 corpses who were believed to have been killed early hours of today, Sunday,” a resident of the area told our reporter.

“Many people including women and children are nowhere to be found,” the source added.

Contractor, not NEMA culpable in diversion of food meant for IDPs – Senator

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The Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume, on Tuesday cleared the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, of complicity in the alleged diversion of relief materials meant for the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in the north-east.

Mr. Ndume told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Yola that the Senate could not find any evidence of diversion against the NEMA officials.

“No NEMA members of staff will be involved in diversion or stealing of any relief items meant for the IDPs,” Mr. Ndume said.

He said that the allegation of diversion of relief materials meant for the IDPs in Borno and Yobe was raised by him, adding that the contractor involved was the suspect.

The senate leader said that the contractor had been invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for interrogation.

“I personally raised the allegation of the said diversion of the relief materials meant for our people (IDPs) living in various camps across the north-east region.

“What actually happened is that grains were ordered from strategic national grains reserves.

“It was awarded to a contractor to transport, but along the line, some got missing. The contractor is now before the EFCC,” he said.

Mr. Ndume, who visited some IDPs camps in Yola, said that strong commitment of the government was to shut the camps and return the IDPs back home.

He explained that all the IDPs camps visited were ready to be shut down as all people in various camps had shown enthusiasm to return to their homes.

Also, during the visit, Governor Muhammadu Jibrillah of Adamawa said he would join hands with the Borno and Yobe governments to evacuate the remaining IDPs back home.

Mr. Jibrillah said now that relative peace had returned to most areas, his government would support any move to evacuate the IDPs back home.

He lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his concerted efforts in reconstructing those areas destroyed by the insurgents.

NEMA takes food to Nigerian refugees in Cameroon

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The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, said on Sunday that it has conveyed a total of 1,460 bags of assorted food items to the 80,709 Nigerian refugees that were forced by Boko Haram into Cameroon.

NEMA had said that at least a documented 240,000 Nigerian refugees had fled into Cameroon, Chad and Niger in the wake of Boko Haram insurgents’ rampage and seizure of communities.

The relief agency had last week said in a report that it has recorded the return of 29,581 Nigerian refugees from Cameroon.

The report came months after the news that Cameroon planned to repatriate at least 56,000 Nigerian refugees. NEMA said it acted upon a federal government directive to deliver the food relief in Cameroon for the purpose of feeding the refugees who are mostly from Borno State.

The spokesperson of NEMA, Sani Datti, said in a statement on Sunday that most of the refugees are camped in Minawao town and other locations in the far north region of Cameroon.

He said the delivery was made by a team of NEMA officials led by the relief agency’s Director of Search and Rescue, S. Muhammad, who represented the Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sidi.

Mr. Datti said the officials “handed over the items to officials of Cameroon for onward presentation to the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) which has been managing the camp”.

“The Director General said NEMA will continue to liaise with the Government of the Republic of Cameroon to ensure that all Nigeria refugees are living in good condition.”

The team also appealed to youth in the camps “to desist from using drugs and urged them to always be of good character and be good ambassadors of our country”.

Some youth in the camp were recently arrested for drug use.

A Cameroon official who received the items, Menguene Marie, was said to have appreciated the Nigerian government for the timely gesture.

Similar appreciation was expressed by the vice chairman of the Nigerian refugees, Ashigar Mohammed from Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, who also called for immediate repatriation of refugees.

“We have been in Minawao camp for three years, we do have regular feeding, have school and hospital, but we want leaders of our communities back home to visit us,” he said.

The delivered food comprised 650 bags of rice, 300 bags of Guinea corn, 200 bags of millet, 150 bags of beans, 10 bags of groundnut, 50 bags of flour, 50 bags of sugar and 50 bags of salt. Others include 100 cartons of tinned tomato, 50 cartons of bouillon cubes, 150 cartons of spaghetti, 150 cartons of bath soap and 50 cartons of vegetable oil.

239,834 Nigerian Refugees In Chad, Cameroon, Niger– NEMA

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A total of 239,834 Nigerians who were displaced by the activities of insurgents in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states are still living as refugees in neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Republic of Chad and Niger Republic.

According to the National Emergency Management Agency, over 100,000 displaced Nigerians reside in Niger, while the second largest number of refugees were in Cameroon.

Quoting from a recently released humanitarian intervention report by NEMA, the agency’s Head for Media and Public Relations, Mr. Sani Datti, in a statement issued on Monday said, “There are presently 20,804 displaced Nigerians living in the Republic of Chad; 80,709 in the Republic of Cameroon; and 138,321 in the Republic of Niger.”

He noted that about 29,581 displaced Nigerians who fled their communities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states to Republic of Niger and Cameroon voluntarily returned last year.

Datti stated that 13,046 Nigerian returnees came from Niger Republic in May 2015 and were received in Geidam, Yobe State.

According to him, between April and December 2015, NEMA received about 16,595 Nigerians who voluntarily returned from Cameroon through the Sahuda border crossing area near Mubi, Adamawa State.

Datti said, “Some of the Nigerians that fled to neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon were provided with humanitarian relief support by the Federal Government of Nigeria through NEMA, to alleviate their suffering.

“The displaced Nigerians have also received humanitarian support from the host governments, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the host communities and Nigerian citizens living in the three host countries.”

Datti noted that the agency adopted a monthly Humanitarian Coordination Meeting, a forum which consists of relevant Federal Government agencies, UN systems and international non-governmental organisations.

The forum, he said, undertakes analysis on causes of humanitarian situations, conducts need assessments, identifies and provides humanitarian interventions based on its respective mandates.

“The report added that due to the successes recorded by the Nigerian military with the support of Multi-National Joint Military Task Force in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents, the humanitarian dashboard is fast changing,” Datti said in the statement.

He noted that focus was gradually shifting towards reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement, recovery and dignified return of IDPs back home, while the process for the return of Nigerian refugees from neighbouring countries were equally on-going.

Credit: punchng

Harmattan: NEMA warns residents, traders on fire.

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The National Emergency Management Agency has called on residents and traders to be safety conscious to prevent fire outbreak in and around their environment.

 

The North West Zonal Coordinator, Musa Ilalah, made the call on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna.

 

According to him, there is usually no warning when fire outbreak may occur but experience has shown that incidences of fire are more during the dry season.

 

He said that in the last quarter of 2015, there were 163 fire outbreaks in the state.

 

Ilalah said: “The harmattan season is here, which it is important for people to know how to curtail persistent fire outbreaks, which commonly occurs during the dry season.

 

“Most residents and shop owners are careless in handling electrical appliances; they mostly forget to put out their appliances after they close for the day.’’

 

Ilalah said that this could later lead to fire outbreaks if not properly managed “and in a populated environment, it poses high risk to occupants and their property”.

 

He urged market associations, organizations and students that had benefited from the agency’s sensitization campaigns against fire outbreaks to enlighten other business owners.

 

He said: “We need to continue sensitizing and informing the public on the importance of safety measures in residential and business environments to curtail fire outbreaks.

 

“As part of disaster management, the agency will do everything possible, including sensitisation and quick response to prevent and curtail fire outbreaks.”

 

He appealed to traders to be conversant with telephone numbers of fire and emergency services to enable them make calls when the need arose.

From 60,000, number of Yola IDPs ‘drop to 19,000?.

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says  the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Yola, Adamawa, has dropped from 60,000 to 18,958.

 

This was made known in a statement signed by Sani Datti, head, media and public relations of NEMA.

 

Datti said Sa’ad Bello, head, NEMA operation office, Yola, disclosed this on Friday during an oversight visit by the senate committee on NEMA.

 

Datti quoted Bello as saying that the drop is as a result of voluntary return of the IDPs to their homes.

 

While expressing satisfaction with the progress so far made in the camps, Bello said there was tremendous enrolment of school-age children in schools.

 

“So far, over 900 internally displaced children enrolled in various camps in the state,’’ he said.

 

Abdulazeez Nyako, senate committee chairman on NEMA, commended the agency for its consistence in rendering humanitarian services in Nigeria, especially to the less privileged.

 

He said that the committee was satisfied and convinced with the way NEMA was managing available resources and taking proper care of IDPs.

 

However, Nyako noted shortage of water supply in some camps as a serious problem and promised to invite the ministry of water resources to address the challenge.

 

“We are going to support NEMA to lead and coordinate all activities of humanitarian organisations in the country,’’ he said.

Boko Haram: IDPs in Yola Drop From 60,000 to 18,958 – NEMA

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The National Emergency Management Agency says the number of Internally Displaced Persons in Yola, Adamawa, has dropped from 60,000 to 18,958.

Mr Sa’ad Bello, the Head, NEMA Operation Office, Yola, disclosed this on Friday during an oversight visit by the Senate Committee on NEMA to the IDPs camp in Damare, Yola.

A statement signed by Mr Sani Datti, Head, Media and Public Relations of NEMA, quoted Bello as saying that the drop is as a result of voluntary return of the IDPs to their homes.

While expressing satisfaction with the progress so far made in the camps, Bello said there was tremendous enrollment of school-age children in schools.

“So far, over 900 Internally Displaced Children enrolled in various camps in the state,’’ he said.

The Senate Committee Chairman on NEMA, Sen. Abdulazeez Nyako, commended the agency for its consistence in rendering humanitarian services in Nigeria especially to the less privileged.

He said the committee was satisfied and convinced with the way NEMA was managing available resources and taking proper care of the IDPs.

However, Nyako noted shortage of water supply in some camps as a serious problem and promised to invite the Ministry of Water Resources to address the challenge.

“We are going to support NEMA to lead and coordinate all activities of humanitarian organisations in the country,’’ he said.

NEMA returns 5,403 citizens to their homes from IDPs camps

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed the return of 5403 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to the home after their stay in Camps.

The returnees include 1517 in Mafa , 750 in konduga, 1200 in Ngamboru and about 1,936 are due to return to Dikwa

This is coming at a period Governor of Borno State Alh kashim shettima and a team of NEMA North East zonal staff led by Zonal coordinator Alh Muhammed Kanar spent the night in Bama in order to fast track the reconstruction of homes and other structures to facilitate the return of residents displaced by insurgency.

The team delivered food items on behalf of the DG NEMA Alh Muhammed Sani Sidi.

The Zonal Coordinator also promised to provide building materials in line with the needs assessment conducted by NEMA and Borno State Emergency Management Agency (BOSEMA).

Flood Destroys 300 Houses In Yobe

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Alhaji Musa Jidawa, Executive Secretary, Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), on Wednesday, said that over 300 houses, farmlands and livestock had been destroyed by flood in Jakusko and Adaya communities.

He made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu.

Jidawa said, “We received report of over 250 houses destroyed in Jakusko and about 54 others in Adaya but no life was lost, the affected people are taking shelter with relations in the communities.”

The executive secretary added that the state government had provided food, clothes and building materials to the victims to assist them resettle.

Jidawa said that the agency had embarked on enlightenment campaign, urging communities on waterways to vacate the water routes to avoid disaster.

“There are early warning signals indicating flood in some states, including Yobe, we have therefore addressed flood prone communities to evacuate the water path.

“There are communities that have suffered flooding in many years; we are still calling on these communities to leave the waterways.”

According to the executive secretary, Ngelzarma, Jajere, Nangere, Buduwa, Nguru, Gashua, Damagum, Dapchi and some communities in Tarmuwa experience flooding almost every year.

He urged residents of towns and villages to evacuate drainage and avoid constructing buildings or dumping refuse in such a way that it would block the waterways.

“There will be fewer floods if we make room for a free flow of water in our communities.”

NAN reports that two unidentified corpses of young boys were recently recovered by fishermen from river Nguru.

NEMA Reassures On North-east Development

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The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi, has reiterated the agency’s commitment to the deployment of natural and human capital to the North-east to ensure permanent peace and sustainable development of the region.
Sidi said in a goodwill message through a representative at a workshop on the rights of civilians in armed conflict organised by Global Rights in Abuja yesterday, that the effort was to restore the past glory of the region ravaged by Boko Haram attacks.

“The federal government is sincerely committed to the deployment of the vast natural and human capital of the North-east in order to ensure peace and progress of the region,” he said.
This according to him would be achieved especially with the current liberation of the vast territories hitherto occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.
The director general who was represented by Alhaji Alasan Nuhu said NEMA had been working with relevant actors in driving the sustainable rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery of the North-east.
He said the indiscriminate attacks by Boko Haram had made civilians vulnerable targets.
This he said, called for conscious evaluation of existing policies to protect the right of civilians.
He maintained that the federal government through NEMA had continued to work towards the protection of the rights of citizens during crisis in collaboration with relevant actors.
He said the agency had set up humanitarian cells and maintained humanitarian corridors in the region to support the affected population.
The workshop provided a platform for discussions and deliberations on protection of the rights of civilians during conflicts.

Read More: dailytrust

Boko Haram : NEMA Re-unites 200 Children With Parents In Borno

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Friday said it had reunited more than 200 children with their parents affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Sa’ad Bello, the Head of Operations, Adamawa and Taraba office of the agency, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola.

Mr. Bello said the successful re-unification was conducted with the collaboration of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) under Restoring Family Link Programme.

He said the children, mostly of between the ages of five and 12, were from Bama and Baga in Borno.

“Meanwhile, we still have about 165 unaccompanied children in four designated camps in Adamawa,” he said.

The official said some families from Bama visited some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Yola where they identified their children.

He said after intensive investigation by appropriate authorities concerned, the children were handed over to their parents.

He said that the agency with the support of ICRC, was working hard, through appropriate channels, to identify the parents of the remaining unaccompanied children.

NAN reports that family reunification during armed conflicts is a right under international law.

Read More:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/208492-boko-haram-nema-re-unites-200-children-parents-borno.html

800 Repentant Boko Haram Insurgents Receive Food From NEMA

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The National Emergency Management Agency has presented food and non-food items to the military for Operation Safe Corridor Programme meant to de-radicalise, rehabilitate and re-integrate 800 repentant Boko Haram insurgents.

According to the agency, the gesture was to fast track peace process in the North East.

The Director-General of NEMA, Mr. Sani Sidi, who presented the items in Gombe State, said the agency would continue to play its role in the programme by providing regular support of food and non-food items for the upkeep of the ex-terrorists.

Sidi, in a statement issued by the Media and Public Relations Officer of NEMA, Sani Datti, in Abuja on Tuesday, said, “The initiative, which is in line with international best practices allowed those engaged in the fighting to voluntarily surrender and embrace peace so that they can undergo rehabilitation.”

He stated that items to be released for this purpose every three months include 410 bags of rice, 400 bags of beans, 200 bags of millet, 200 bags of sorghum, 750 cartons of spaghetti, 50 cartons of Maggi cubes and 810 cartons tomato paste.

Others are 101 vegetable oil in 20 litre kegs, 101 palm oil in 20 litre kegs, 50 bags of salt, 100 bags of sugar, 420 cartons of milk and 420 cartons of milo chocolate.

The non-food items include 800 pieces of mattress, 500 hundred pieces of blanket, 500 pieces of nylon mats, 1000 plastic buckets, 1000 plastic spoons, 1000 plastic cups, 1000 plastic plates, 1000 plastic pairs of slippers, 2000 men’s wear, 63 cartons of bath soap and 1000 bath towels.

Receiving the items, the Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, Brigadier-General, Bamidele Shafa, said the initiative was designed to de-radicalise, rehabilitate and re-integrate willing and repented Boko Haram insurgents who had come out to surrender to the military and believing that it would quicken the peace process in the North East.

“Between September last year and February this year a good number of Boko haram insurgents have come out to surrender,” he added.

Credit: Punch

NEMA Confirms 1 Death In UNILAG Guest House Fire

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One person has been confirmed dead in a fire outbreak that gutted a section of the University of Lagos Guest House in the early hours of Thursday in Lagos.

The victim, said to be a guest who came for the ongoing 2014/2015 convocation of the institution, was said to have died of suffocation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the fire started around 2.00 a.m.

The victim, who accompanied a prominent traditional ruler to the convocation, was said to be lodging in room A12, where he suffocated to death due to impact of the fire.

The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident in a text message sent to the NAN.

 Farinloye quoted the Zonal Coordinator of NEMA for Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, as saying that four rooms – A12, A13, A14 and A15 – were affected by the fire.

“The deceased will be flown to Maiduguri for burial today,’’ the text message read in part.

Effort to speak with officials of the university, about the incident yielded no result as everyone claimed to be busy with the convocation events and could not talk to the press.

Credit: NAN

NEMA Assures UN Of Addressing IDPs Plight

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has assured the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) that the agency would not relent in its efforts in addressing the plights of displaced persons.

Mr Sahad Bala, NEMA office Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs at Malkohi IDPs camp, made this known while receiving the UNHCR delegation at the camp in Yola, Adamawa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the delegation was led by Mr Volker Türk, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner on Protection.

Bala said that since the beginning of the insurgency in Nigeria, NEMA had always ensured protection and assistance to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast and those across the country.

He said that as at now, more than 2.2million Nigerians have been displaced from their homes in villages and towns seeking refuge and protection in various camps and communities.

According to him, not less than 200,000 fled across the border into neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad where they live in camps and host communities as refugees under the UN agency protection.

Credit: Guardian

NEMA Urges State Govts To Compel Traders To Purchase Fire Insurance

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has urged state governments to compel traders to purchase an insurance policy against fire disasters.

 

Major James Eze, the out-going Zonal Co-ordinator of NEMA in Enugu, who made the call at a news conference on Wednesday, said that such gesture would enable the government to protect itself from numerous demands for assistance from traders affected by fire disasters.

 

Eze also said that the compulsion of the traders to purchase fire insurance would help manage disasters.

 

“The states should use the compulsory acquisition of insurance as a sword and a shield. A sword in the sense that it will use it to manage disasters, and as a shield to protect itself against numerous requests or rather demands for assistance from people, who are affected by fire disasters.

 

“Now a lot of things happen; people who are engaged in business – you allow your business and wares to be destroyed, something you use 30, 40, 50 years to build, would be destroyed by fire.

 

You cannot go and acquire insurance say let me put a hedge against my wares or my business so that when I am suffering a loss, I will not suffer a total loss.

 

I will have to insure my items for a million (naira) or two.

 

Then when these things happen, you don’t blame them, they don’t have any place to run to.

 

They go to government and say `government help me oh; I am distressed’.

 

So, the government should make sure that every trader in a market acquires insurance (policy)

In fact it (insurance cover) should be a license for you to trade.’’

 

The zonal co-ordinator, who allayed the fears of traders about insurance policies, said that erring insurers would be sanctioned by the National Insurance Commission.

 

On NEMA’s activities in the zone, which comprises Enugu, Ebonyi, and Anambra states, Eze said that the agency undertook 27 relief interventions for emergency victims, assessment of 28 disaster situations, and held 11 workshops for stakeholders in disaster management.

 

He identified insufficient vehicles as the biggest challenge facing the zonal office of the agency.

 

 

(NAN)

Reps, NEMA Donate Relief Materials To IDPs, Call For End To Insurgency

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The Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday, restated Federal Government’s commitment to end insurgency before the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to the North-East.

 

 

Dogara said this when he visited the IDPs camps in the FCT alongside Mr Ishaya Chonoko, the Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Abuja operation Office.

 

 

The speaker, in collaboration with NEMA, who donated relief materials to be distributed among the IDPs in the FCT, said that the items were provided to meet the needs of the IDPs.

 

 

At the Wasa host community, Dogara said that the government was doing everything possible to ensure that the war against insurgency come to an end.

 

 

“We have come to see the condition under which you live. Even though we came with items that we want to give out to you, we know that merely handing out these items is not enough.

 

As a matter of fact there is nothing we can do here that will be enough because coming from the region where I come from; our hearts are always on our land.

 

I know that as long as you are not back to your communities where these crises forced you out, even if we give you the whole world you will not be happy.

 

I want to condole some of us who have lost husbands, sons, daughters and wives, the government will ensure the war is brought to an end,’’ he said.

 

 

The Speaker said that the House of Representatives had considered the plights of the IDPs and thought it critical to establish a dedicated committee that will find a lasting solution to the situation.

 

 

“The problems of the IDPs cannot be solved through an ad hoc measure that is why we are proposing by law that will establish a commission for the development of the North-East.

 

It is a bill that I am championing in the House and in the Senate and sooner or later, we should be able to pass that bill.

 

We are not going to leave it at the level of policy; we want to translate it into law so that we can make it more permanent,’’ he said.

 

Also speaking, Chonoko said the relief materials were provided by the Federal Government through NEMA and the House of Representatives to meet the needs of the IDPs and alleviate their sufferings.

 

He said that NEMA as the coordinating agency has played a very significant role in identifying the host communities in the FCT where IDPs are settled and coordinated effectively.

 

“We have put in place mechanisms to ensure that the relief items get to the real IDPs. We use this medium to commend Nigerians that have seen the needs to assist the IDPs and have responded to their needs’’, Chonoko said.

 

Rep. Johnson Agbonayinma (Edo-PDP) said the move by the Speaker to the IDPs camp was one of the signs of change, and it was not about partisan politics, but doing what was right for the people.

 

“I am happy that the Speaker saw this as important, his involvement and passion on getting it right shows there is better hope for tomorrow.

 

“What is also important is for all Nigerians to come together and make sure that we put an end to the issue of insurgency, so that these families can go back to their constituencies,” he said.

 

Mrs Alhasan Adamu, the Women Leader, Wasa IDPs Camp, said that she was glad to see people in government in the camp, saying it showed that they were not forgotten.

 

She urged the government to continue to help them and ensure their return home.

 

“I came to seek refuge in this camp because the terrorists killed my husband and we need more food and water to survive.

 

“We are thankful and also plead with the government to take us back to our village to continue our farming after the insurgency because we are all farmers,’ she said.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that items distributed include: Bags of rice, maize, Sugar, millets, Beans, vegetable oil, Wax, cartons of indomie noodles among others.

 

 

 

(NAN)

Insurgency: FG Working On IDPs Rehabilitation – NEMA DG

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Mr Muhammad Sani-Sidi, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says the Federal Government is putting in place programmes and policies to ensure the rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

 

Sani-Sidi said this on Wednesday in Abuja at while fielding questions the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum.

 

According to him, resettlements plans and policies are under-way following the success of security agencies in combating the insurgency and reclaiming captured communities.

 

“There are a lot of programmes and policies that have been put in place to address the problem of infrastructural damage in the North-East.

 

“The Victim Support Fund was set up to raise funds to cater for the IDPs; a presidential committee for reconstruction and rehabilitation was also set up.

The Safe School Initiative was put in place to allow IDPs children to continue their education in camps.

The committees were also set up to come up with some quick ways on how to address these challenges and how to assist them to go back to the liberated communities and continue with their lives.’’

 

According to the director-general, many camps have been closed down following the voluntary return of IDPs to their communities.

 

He said that there were 26 IDPs camps in Borno while in Adamawa, the number had reduced from 11 to five camps.

 

He said that early this year, there was an impact assessment in the insurgency-ravaged states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, to evaluate the level of damage and the infrastructure to be rebuilt.

 

Sani-Sidi said that although terrorism was entirely a new thing to Nigeria, it had become a global phenomenon and a global challenge.

 

He, however, said that it was the responsibility of the government to cater for the needs of its displaced citizens and address their plight.

 

He said that as at November, the population of IDPs in Nigeria was about 2.1 million.

 

 

(NAN)

NEMA Distributes Relief Materials To Anambra Flood Victims

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has sent relief materials worth millions of naira to the Anambra State government for flood victims.

The Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammadu Sani Sidi, who was in the state, on Wednesday, said that the body had taken sensitization campaigns to the flood prone areas like Ekwusigo, Ihiala, Idemili South, Awka North and other council areas.

He was accompanied on the trip by the NEMA Zonal Co-ordinator for South-West, Dr. Onimode A. Bandele and his South-East counterpart, James Major Eze.

Governor Willie Obiano, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Daniel Ezeanwu, received the relief materials.

Some of the materials delivered in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) were 1,200 bags of rice, 1,000 bags of beans, 200 bags of garri, 305 bags of sugar.

Others were 1,500 pieces of wax prints, 1,500 pieces of Guinea brocade, 850 pieces of mattresses, 600 bags of cement, 1,000 pieces of ceiling boards, 350 pieces of roofing sheets, and 500 pieces of plastic buckets among many others.

Credit: DailyTimes

410 Births, 187 Marriages Recorded In IDP Camps- NEMA

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that over 410 births were recorded between August and September while 187 marriages were conducted within the same period at the internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps in Borno and Adamawa States.

The director general (DG) of the agency, Muhammad Sani Sidi, provided the data yesterday when members of Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG) paid him a courtesy call in his office in Abuja.

A statement by NEMA spokesman, Sani Datti, quoted the director general as stating that 100 marriages were conducted in Maiduguri camps alone while 87 were recorded in Adamawa camps.

He said an emergency education programme for children at the camps became a major priority after unprecedented insurgency attacks on students, teachers and school infrastructure where about 269 teachers lost their lives.

Credit: Thisday

Adamawa State Polytechnic Authorities Confirm 8 Students Dead In Blast That Occurred In School Premises

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Authorities of Adamawa State Polytechnic has confirmed that eight students died in the October 23rd bomb blast took place during the opening ceremony of a Juma’at Mosque located at the School of Engineering of the institution in Jambutu.

In a press statement released by the school authorities yesterday, it was noted that aside the eight students that died, four other students are currently receiving treatments at different hospitals while two other staff of the school are also on admission. The statement also noted that, security around all campuses of the institution has been beefed up and thorough search is now been conducted on every one entering the school.

The statement also said the authorities are ready to assist victims of the blast to pay their hospital bills and also visit the families of those that died one after the order. May the souls of the students rest in peace.

NEMA Confirms 14 Dead In Damaturu Suicide Attack

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At least 14 people were killed in three separate suicide bomb attacks in Damaturu, northeast Nigeria, on Wednesday, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency said.

The blasts came after Boko Haram militants this week claimed to have carried out three suicide attacks on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja, last Friday that left 18 dead and 41 injured.

Suspicion will likely fall on the Islamist rebels, who have repeatedly attacked Damaturu during their bloody, six-year insurgency.

Last month, a girl thought to be aged 12 killed six and injured 47 when the explosives she was carrying went off outside a bus station in the Yobe state capital.

NEMA coordinator for Yobe state Bashir Idris Garga said the first blast happened at a small food store at a housing estate, killing four.

Another near a mosque killed one, while nine, including a family, lost their lives when another bomber exploded at a Fulani settlement on the outskirts of the city.

“Total injured 10, seven partially injured and three critically injured,” Garga said in a text message.

Boko Haram has reverted to attacking “soft” civilian targets after last year’s land grab that saw it seize towns and villages across Yobe and neighbouring Borno and Adamawa states.

Read More: ngrguardiannews

Flood: NEMA Warns Communities To Vacate Waterways

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has  advised states and local governments to immediately relocate residents of communities along rivers, waterways and flood-prone areas to safer grounds to avoid unnecessary loss of lives and properties.

A statement signed by the agency’s Senior Information Officer,  Sani Datti said the warning has become necessary as result of heavy rains and the devastating affect of floods that have been witnessed in most of the communities along rivers, waterways and flood prone areas in the recent time,

The statement quoted the Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi of having urged state and local governments to ensure adequate and proper refuse dumping sites from where they would be evacuated regularly.

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NEMA Distributes Relief Materials To 272 Deportees From Niger Republic

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday in Ibi, Taraba, distributed relief materials to 272 Nigerians deported from Niger Republic.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the materials were distributed to the deportees and also to victims of insurgency at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in the area.

Alhaji Muhammed Sani-Sidi, NEMA Director-General, presented the materials to the IDPs in Ibi on behalf of the Federal Government.

Sani-Sidi told the victims that Federal Government was committed to ensuring that peace returned to all warring communities across the country to enable them settle in their various villages.

He thanked the people of the Ibi for hosting the deportees, an urged them to continue with the gesture because government was taking necessary steps to resettle all affected persons.

Read More: ngrguardiannews

Boko Haram: NEMA Evacuates 5,000 From Dikwa

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday said it had evacuated 5,000 starved persons from liberated interland communities in Dikwa Local Government Area (LGA), Borno.

NEMA North East Coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, disclosed this to newsmen in Maiduguri.

Kanar said those evacuated were mainly children, women and elderly, who were freed in the recent military operation in the area.

“The people evacuated were virtually imprisoned in their communities as the routes were blocked by members of the insurgents, who captured major towns of Dikwa and Ngala local government areas.

“They were living on small rations as they were compelled to depend on their livestock and farm produce without freedom to trading and commerce with the rest of the world during the occupation,” he said.

He said those evacuated were camped at Sanda Kyarimi Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, Maiduguri, for proper care.

“Some of affected persons, who spoke to officials of NEMA, said they had not eaten for about three days and had to trek long distances to get to Dikwa, Headquarters of Dikwa LGA,” Kanar said.

Credit: NAN

Black Box Of Crashed Bristow Helicopter Still Missing- NEMA

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday said it was still searching for the Black Box of the ill-fated chopper that plunged into the Lagos Lagoon on Wednesday.

Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the South-West Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the agency, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Farinloye said that the agency’s rescue team was still on the lookout for the black box of the ill-fated Bristow Helicopter.

NAN reports that the black box is a piece of equipment on an aircraft that records what happens on a flight and can be used to discover the cause of accidents.

He , however, confirmed that the agency had recovered the two remaining bodies of the victims, which brought the total number of the dead bodies recovered to six, with six survivors.

Farinloye who said that the bodies were recovered from the Lagoon at 10.55a.m., attributed it to the joint efforts of the agency’s rescue team and the canoe operators.

“We have to employ the services of local canoe operators who know the terrain.

“About 40 canoe operators were deployed to the scene of the incident and we succeeded in recovering the two remaining bodies at about 10:55 a.m,” he said.

Credit: NAN

Flood: NEMA Alerts Communities As Cameroon Releases Water From Lagdo Dam

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has alerted state governments and communities along River Benue of possible flood following information from Cameroonian authorities on plans to release excess water from Lagdo Dam.

In a release yesterday, Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi, said the Cameroonian authorities in Garuoa have indicated that between now and November 2015, there would be routine release of water from the Lagdo Dam due to excessive amount of water presently contained in the facility.

Sidi said the authorities have also warned “all those living around the dam and along River Benue in Garoua up to Nigeria side to be at alert and be ready for evacuation in case of possible flooding.”

He called on the frontline state governors, state Emergency Management Agencies, first responders and relevant authorities to alert the communities at risk, prepare safe locations for possible evacuation and adequate preparedness. The DG NEMA said the agency has dispatched the alert to the affected state governors and is following up with appropriate advocacy.

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NEMA Receives 12, 000 Nigerian Returnees From Cameroun

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About 12,000 Nigerians, mostly from Borno State, who fled insurgency attacks by Boko Haram to the Republic of Cameroun, have started arriving home through the border post in Sahuda, Mubi South, Adamawa State.

The position which was made known via a Press Statement signed by Senior Information officer of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Mallam Sani Datti noted that the returnees are currently being screened by the Nigerian Immigration Service and the security agencies.

“The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has so far received 1,121 of the returnees from the Nigerian Immigration Service at the border post, out of which 650 have been transported to Borno State, while the remaining are still at Malkohi Internally Displaced Persons camp in Yola,” the statement said.

The statement also noted that “In the mean time, NEMA is providing food and non-food items as well as medical cover to cater for the returnees at the border while awaiting the conclusion of the immigration and security screening. Arrangements have also been concluded to locate the returnees to a new camp in Fufore, Adamawa State for proper care.”

Credit: leadership

Prepare For Drought, NEMA Cautions Nigerians

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), advised Nigerians to prepare for possible drought in the country. NEMA’s warning followed the prediction of heavy rainfall by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

The North West coordinator of NEMA, Musa Illalah, gave the advice in Kaduna during a workshop on liquid and solid waste management in the context of flood mitigation.

Represented by the director, Administration of the agency, Amina Ahman, Illalah said the implication of the NIMET alert was that the rain may exceed the normal rate and states in the North ought to anticipate drought. “The implication is that there might be water surplus and increase in stream flow which will affect dams storage for municipal water supply, may affect hydro power generation and irrigation.

“Therefore, the development and regular maintenance of dams for dry season irrigation and water supply must be accorded high priority during this time.

“In the same vein, there may be shortage of rainfall; we must also be prepared for drought and the mitigation of its impact.’’

He said that the workshop was to articulate the problem of solid waste management which exacerbate negative impact of flooding in the country.

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UN Screens Boko Haram Victims For Skills Acquisition

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The United Nations (UN) has commenced the screening of 2,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for the first phase of providing means of livelihood and early recovery support scheme to the victims of Boko Haram insurgency.

Speaking in Gombe, yesterday, the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative, Dr. Daouda Toure, told the IDPs that the screening was to ascertain if they were actually victims of insurgency.

“UNDP, in partnership with the governments of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, is undertaking to ameliorate the suffering of the displaced people in the three states as a result of Boko Haram insurgency,” Toure said.

“UNDP is embarking on the Livelihoods Support Scheme. Under the first phase, 500 victims will be selected in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

“These victims will be placed in a two-week compulsory orientation programme, where you are going to undergo physical exercise, training, capacity-building on mediation, conflict prevention, conflict transformation, social integration and peaceful co-existence for two weeks.

“And because it is an intensive programme, we are very mindful of those we select and we are doing this screening because we want people that genuinely need this assistance to be selected.

“Some of you started having hope, but unfortunately, their lives or their means of sustaining livelihood have been cut short, because of the Boko Haram insurgency.

“But let me assure you that for every one that is impacted in one way or the other, you will be accommodated in the various phases of the Early Recovery Programme. This is one of it.”

Toure, who was represented by Mr. Matthew Alao, UNDP’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Analyst, said the beneficiaries would be placed on a paid six-month or one-year skills acquisition programme.

He explained that the successful candidates would be supported with take-off grants and also equipped with the tools of the skills they acquire.

Toure cautioned the IDPs already shortlisted against lobbying, saying the scheme was not a government largesse, but a specific programme targeted at specific people who really needed help.

Nigeria Has 3rd Highest IDPs After Syria, Iraq – NHRC

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The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, has disclosed that with about one million people displaced from their homes,

Nigeria harbours the third highest number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the world, behind war-torn Syria and Iraq.

He stated this yesterday at a national conference organised by the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC), the MDGs Office and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) with the theme, ‘Good

Governance Beyond 2015: Setting Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Era of Change.’

According to the human rights chief, because of the fragility of the state and its institutions, violence has become a major cause of mortality in Nigeria.

Odinkalu quoted the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) Global Overview of 2014 which said that “Boko Haram’s ruthless campaign to establish an independent Islamic state in North-eastern Nigeria also drove new significant displacements.

“It was responsible for displacing more than three-quarters of at least 975,300 people in the country during the year, while many others fled inter-communal violence in the Middle Belt region.”

The IDMC report stated that as at the end of 2014, 38 million people around the world had been forced to flee their homes by armed conflicts and generalised violence, and were living in displacement within the borders of their own country while 11 million people were newly displaced during the year, the equivalent of 30,000 fleeing each day.

“Never in the last 10 years of IDMC’s global reporting, from the peak of the Darfur crisis in 2004 have we reported such a high estimate for the number of people newly displaced in a year. Today, there are almost twice as many IDPs as there are refugees worldwide,” the report said.

Odinkalu noted that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and indeed the wider project of development are themselves founded on the notions of human rights, human dignity and equality generally.

Earlier, the executive director of OSIWA, Abdul Tejan-Cole, said that as the MDGs are winding down by September this year, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would be signed by all the nations of the world at a meeting in New York on a new development agenda.

He said, “Nigeria has made very impressive progress with the MDGs but the story of the MDGs is an unfinished business because we still have issues like HIV, illiteracy, hunger, sanitation and more. We are going to transit these development issues to the next agenda.”

“All the stakeholders are here and we shall be talking and strategising on how we can lay the structural, institutional and legal framework for the early implementation of the SDGs.”

NEMA Releases Official Report On Jos Bomb Attacks, Contradicts State Govt’s Report

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The Director in charge of the North-Central zone of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mohammed Abdulsalam, has put the number of deaths in Sunday night’s bomb attacks on Jos at 44.

Mr. Abdulsalam also told journalists via telephone on Monday morning that 48 others were badly injured, and are currently hospitalized in various hospitals in the Plateau state capital.

But the Plateau state government insisted that only 18 people died in the incidents, with 18 others injured.

A statement by the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Emmanuel Nanle, quoted the state government as condemning the attack, and calling for calm.

The statement also urged security agents to intensify checks and patrol across the state to avert reoccurrence.

The spokesperson for the Plateau State Command of the police, Abuh Emmanuel, confirmed the explosions Monday, but declined to disclose casualty figure.

Mr. Emmanuel said the data on victims were still being collated, and that no arrest has so far been made.

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NEMA Announces Closure Of Refugee Camps

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has closed and collapsed more Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps in the North-east as a result of the successes the military recorded terrorists in the region.

Director General of the agency, Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi, disclosed the closure when received the Executive Secretary of the newly established Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) ,Yusuf Anas. “Following the successes being recorded by the gallant Nigerian military that are prosecuting the counter insurgency operation, some IDP camps have been closed or collapsed,” Sidi said.

He said in Adamawa State, for instance, the camps had been collapsed from 11 to six. It is expected that more camps in other affected areas would be collapsed or closed as soon as it is practicable. There are currently 22 camps in operation while about 1,4 million. Of this number of IDPs, ninety percent are victims of insurgency while majority of them are from Borno State” Sidi said.

Sidi meanwhile described the establishment of the CCC as timely and stated that information and communication were critical in disaster management.

Anas said the core objectives of the centre were to provide needed support and intervention in crisis information management. “The Centre will provide coordinated platform for early warning alerts, timely response to crisis situation and sensitization efforts. The centre will engage in capacity building, research and management of crisis communication” Anas said.

Credit: CAJ News

NEMA Resumes Distribution Of Relief To Borno IDPs

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has distributed drugs and other medical requirements to numerous camps housing people displaced by the Boko Harm insurgency in the Borno State.

The camps, 22 in total, are in Maidugiri, the capital city of the terror-riddled state situated in the northeast.

Information officer of the agency in the region, Mallam AbdulKadir Ibrahim, confirmed the distribution of the health material.

He said Zonal Coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, was at Yerwa IDPs camp on Thursday to perform the handover ceremony for the drugs to the camp clinic.

Ibrahim said the agency was collaborating with the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (BOSEMA) and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) had all the basics they required at all times.

“The agency recently conducted a need assessment for the areas liberated by the military with a view of rehabilitating the communities before the return of the displaced persons back to their communities,” added Ibrahim.

The distribution of the material comes a few days after the agency entered into with the Borno State government, on behalf of the Federal Government, to share most of the responsibilities of providing required goods and amenities at the IDPs camps and also be involved in the management of camps.

Borno is the state worst hit by the insurgency the Islamic militant has been waging over the years in the country. More than 13 000 people have been killed and an estimated 2 million displaced.

Credit: CAJ News

Boko Haram: NEMA Deploys Additional Staff To Borno

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Monday that it had deployed more field workers to Borno to cater for the increased humanitarian needs due to Boko Haram insurgency.

NEMA North East Coordinator, Mohammed Kanar stated this while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri.

Kanar said that the deployment was to boost camp management in the state which had continued to witness daily influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from communities being ravaged by the insurgents.

He said that the agency had also sustained its weekly intervention in IDP camps in the state to ensure minimal comfort to the displaced persons.

Kanar said also that the agency had so far received 306 rescued victims of the Boko Haram insurgents resued by the military from the Sambisa forest.

He said that NEMA had placed the victims comprising of women and children in a special camp in Maiduguri.

Kanar said that the last batch of 33 rescued victims, made up of women and children, were last week transported to a camp in Yola.

He said that psycho-social support and counseling were being provided for them ahead of their reintegration into the society.

Credit: NAN

Only 6 Of 275 Rescued Females Are Pregnant- NEMA

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The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammed Sidi, has said that only six of the 275 females rescued from the Sambisa Forest in Borno are pregnant.

Speaking at an interactive forum organised by a non-governmental organisation, 1 Nigeria Initiative, in Abuja on Sunday, Sidi said the speculation that most of them came out with pregnancy was not correct.

“I must put it on record that only six of them came with pregnancy and we must be very careful not to stigmatise these innocent Nigerians.

“This is necessary so that we do not end up stigmatising the child that is yet unborn. I think we must respect their rights,” Sidi advised.

He said that 70 per cent of the rescued females were children below five, while 63 of them could not identify their relatives.

“It is a terrible situation to have children under five unaccompanied, meaning that they have lost their parents and we cannot link with their parents at the moment,” he said.

Sidi said the women had been profiled by the military and confirmed as posing no security threat, having been innocent Nigerians seized by the Boko Haram insurgents.

He said that there were six camps otherwise known as “residential camps” in Yola in Adamawa holding 27,000 internally-displaced persons while another 200,000 were living in communities.

He said the agency had 14 camps at the beginning of 2014 in Adamawa alone.

“But most communities under the occupation of Boko Haram have been recovered and peace has returned, so the displaced persons are beginning to move back to their various communities,” Sidi said.

The NEMA boss commended the military for the successes so far recorded in the fight against the insurgency.

He also commended the UN, the Red Cross Society and non-governmental organisations, which had assisted in handling the displaced persons in Gombe, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Credit: NAN

Borno State Govt Appeals To NEMA To Support Daily Feeding Of Over 500,000 IDPs

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It appears that Borno state government might need the support of more individuals and corporate organisations to continue to sustain the daily feeding of over 500,000 Internally Displace Persons (IDP) in the state.

The Deputy Governor of Borno state, Alhaji Mustapha Zanna while receiving relief materials (worth about N7 million naira) from Nigeria Flour Mills today, appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to take over the daily feeding of the IDPs in the state as it is becoming unbearable.

He said that the state government provides three square meals to the IDPs at the camps and that the current hardship in the country has also forced those residing outside into feeding at the camps.  Zanna further said that the exercise was eating deep into government purse, especially with the dwindling resources.

He said taking over the feeding by NEMA would enable the government concentrate on other areas such as provision of welfare, medical care and other essential services to the people.

NEMA Requests Privacy For Rescued Terror Victims

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has asked for members of the public to respect the privacy of victims amid requests to release pictures and details of women and children rescued from terrorists.

The minors and women have been rescued from the notorious Sambisa forest in recent days. NEMA confirmed the military recently handed over 275 rescued women and children to the agency.  The agency also released some pictures and other details of those requested.

The confirmation follow overwhelmed request by members of the public for the agency to disclose images.“We have been overwhelmed with request to show pictures and other details, of the girls rescued by the Nigerian Military in Sambisa forest,” the agency said.

However, NEMA said it had had a duty to respect the privacy and dignity of the victims. “There are limitations to what pictures we can share with the Public. However, we have selected some pictures from the handover operations in Yola.”

According to the agency, the rescued women and children comprised of 69 women, 14 girls, 26 male children aged 6-12 years, 49 male children aged around 5 years 48 female children aged 0-5 years and 69 female aged 6-12 years.

At least 21 injured people are on admission at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

Credit: CAJ News

Senate Leader Demands Probe Into Benue Killings

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Senate President, David Mark, has tasked security operatives to arrest culprits responsible for the recent killings in his homeland of Agatu local government area of Benue State. According to his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Mark reacted after he was briefed by some of his constituents on the development.

He expressed grief over the incident and wondered why his constituents would be killed continuosly by their supposed neighbors. “This is condemnable. This guerrilla warfare must be stopped. All hands must be on deck to put an end to this. Whatever the issue is, resort to violence or killings cannot bring a solution,” he said.

“We must come together and resolve the matter. This animalistic and barbaric act is condemnable by any right thinking members of the society” Mark added. He called for the establishment of a joint commission specifically to forestall further outbreak of violence and killings.

The Senate President also requested the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to help provide relief material to displaced persons in the area and pleaded with the people to remain law abiding as government finds solution to the crisis. Scores of indigenes of Egba community in Agatu local government area of Benue state were on Monday ambushed and murdered in cold blood.

Credit: CAJ News

NEMA Plans Massive Relief On Recaptured Towns

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The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Sani Sidi, has approved a massive relief operation to bolster previous interventions in the three states worst affected by insurgency. These are Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

 Northeast zonal coordinator of the agency, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, said his organisation noted the gains recorded by the military in liberating communities under occupation of insurgents in the North-East geopolitical zone.

The agency was waiting for the military to declare the communities free of terrorists before embarking massive rehabilitation and reconstruction plans for the areas. “As soon as the security of communities has been declared safe by the military, we will ensure that the people are resettled accordingly by providing adequate humanitarian services in collaboration with other stakeholders,” Kanar said.

The zonal coordinator added that ongoing relief operations would be a continuous process as camps would receive weekly relief material from the agency.

Credit: CAJ News

800,000 People Displaced , 254 Schools Burnt From Various Boko Haram Attacks – NEMA

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Over 800,000 people have been displaced while 254 schools have been destroyed as a result of the activities of insurgents in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the National Emergency Management Agency has said.

According to the agency, a total of 120,077 students were out of school as at the end of 2014 due to insurgency in the three states, adding that the Safe School Initiative of the Federal Government was initiated to absorb the students in schools outside the troubled states.

The agency’s Principal Relief Officer, Mr. Awal Abubakar, said 276 schools had been affected by the deadly activities of the Islamic extremists, Boko Haram.

Abubakar, while making a presentation to officials from the United States Agency for International Development at the headquarters of NEMA in Abuja on Tuesday, said 73 schools were affected in Adamawa, 171 in Borno and 56 in Yobe.

On the actual number of students affected in the various states, he said, “Seven thousand one hundred and thirty-five school children have been out of school as a result of insurgency in Adamawa; 113,635 in Borno and 73,894 in Yobe.

“115 schools have been completely destroyed and the largest number of destroyed schools is in Borno, which is 101 schools. 139 other schools have been partially destroyed.”

He noted that the figures covered the period that the insurgency started in 2009 till the end of last year. He explained that the total number of internally displaced persons across the country as of January 2015 was 873,703.

Awal also observed that the health sector was badly hit by the insurgency, but explained that the Federal Government had ensured that there was adequate provision of relief materials for IDPs across various camps in the affected states.

In his address, the Director-General, NEMA, Mr. Sani Sidi, said some non-governmental organisations operating in the country were complicating the figures of displaced persons in Nigeria.

Baga Update: NEMA Registers 3200 Internally Displaced Persons

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Baga Update: NEMA registers 3200 IDPs, strengthens supports

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has dispatched a team from Abuja to strengthen the provision of humanitarian supports to the displaced persons from Baga, Borno State that have fled from the recent insurgency attacks in the town.

The Agency, at the weekend registered 3200 of the IDPs from Baga that are now in Maiduguri and accommodated at the Teachers Village estate where NEMA is providing them with basic supports in collaboration with the Borno State Government. The creation of the new camp brings to 11 where NEMA has been supporting the IDPs with food and non-food items.  The other IDPs in the camps are from towns and villages in the state which had been previously displaced by the insurgency.

The NEMA special intervention team is led by the Director of Search and Rescue to join the staff at its zonal office in Maiduguri to strengthen the humanitarian intervention of the Agency in the state.

Manzo Ezekiel
Press Officer
12/01/2015

Credit: saharareporters.com

Bama: Over 26,300 Displaced/ U.S Concerned

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Borno state said on Wednesday, that 26,391 displaced persons had so far been registered. NEMA spokesman Abdulkadir Ibrahim said, “the number is growing by the hour.”

The United States on Thursday said, it is concerned by increasing Boko Haram violence and territorial gains in Nigeria. US Assistant Secretary of State, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on a visit to Abuja, “We are very troubled by the apparent capture of Bama and the prospects for an attack on and in Maiduguri, which would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population.” Thomas-Greenfield, who leads Washington’s African Affairs team, told delegates at a bilateral meeting on regional security that the upsurge in violence “constitutes a serious threat” to Nigeria.

Fears that Maiduguri could be the next target led the government to extend an overnight curfew there.