The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, over the weekend donated building materials and other relief items to the Borno State government for internally displaced persons willing to return to their communities.
The donation, which included building materials, food and nonfood items, was made by Director General of NEMA, Muhammed Sani Sidi, to the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, in Maiduguri, the state capital.
Sidi, in a statement issued by the agency’s spokesperson, Sani Datti, said the materials would assist IDPs willing to return home, especially those from Gwoza and Askira-Uba local government areas, following the liberation of the communities by the military.
According to him, the agency is shifting its focus from relief intervention to rehabilitation, adding that NEMA has begun distribution of items to communities in Dikwa, Bama, Konduga, and Kaga local government areas of the state, with Gwoza and Askira-Uba next.
“As you are aware, your Excellency, the committee set up by the state government to relocate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in schools to non-school camps which will enable academic activities to resume in schools within the state has been working tirelessly in conjunction with NEMA and other stakeholders to ensure that the target of the committee for schools to resume before the end of October is met.” he said.
Responding, Shetima thanked NEMA and urged other humanitarian agencies to also refocus their activities on helping to rehabilitate communities so that displaced persons can go back home and resume life.
”We want all IDPs to return home. We have now moved to the stage of rehabilitating and rebuilding some of the destroyed communities in Gwoza, Askira and Uba towns. Already, the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlements has produced 750, 000 concrete blocks in Bama as worst hit by insurgents. This will also enable the IDPs return to their respective communities before the end of this year.” Shettima said.
He added that the donated items would be handed over to the state Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction for distribution to beneficiaries.