Borno State Government said it is set to discharge more than 2000 children who are being treated for severe acute malnutrition at the Borno State Nursery Village.

Chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Satomi Ahmed, made this known in a chat with newsmen in Maiduguri, adding that the children had been stabilized and their parents were yearning to return to their homes, which is why government was considering discharging them.

“There are about 2,011 children that were admitted at the Borno State Nursery Village which was established to take care of cases of malnutrition crisis that broke up in the State,” Ahmed said.

“Today, there is a drastic recovery in the conditions of the children. Most of them have been stabilized and are fully recovered and we don’t intend to keep them any longer at the facility because their parents are eager to go back to Bama, their community.

“We will discharge them very soon,” he said.

The SEMA chairman also disclosed that another set of malnourished children were being treated at the Gwange and Maimusari malnutrition centers courtesy of the International Non-Governmental Organisation,  Medicines San Frontier, MSF, in collaboration with the Borno State Government through the state ministry of health.

He pointed out that the SEMA under his leadership was able to introduce some reforms into the agency including the introduction of household feeding which according to him is more dignified that the central kitchen cooking system in the past where food were cooked with shovels etc.

“We felt there were too many complaints about food, feeding and sharing among the IDPs in the camp. Because of the several complaints, I decided that food should be shared based on household instead of the central kitchen cooking system. Food was being cooked with shovels and you see people lining up to collect food which was very undignified.

“With the introduction of the household feeding and food sharing, cooking in the camps has become more dignified and respectful. Apart from that, families cook and eat what they want any time unlike in the past,” Ahmed explained.

He however said that there was poor communication and coordination among the I-NGOs working in the state, a situation that continues to pose a challenge for SEMA.

He urged such organizations to liaise with SEMA in carrying out their activities so as to avoid duplication of efforts.

The SEMA boss also commended Governor Kashim Shettima for setting up the Humanitarian Response Committee which is headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Usman Shua, adding that the birth of the Committee has brought more rapid response to the needs of the IDPs in the state.