The Director General, Agency for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Niger State, Hon. Danjuma Suleiman Nalongo has debunked the assertion that the state government has abandoned the IDPs, in Munya, Rafi and Shiroro IDP camps in the three local government areas of the state.
He stated this on Friday in his office in Minna the state capital, during an interview with some journalists, adding that in the past six months after his assumption of office as the Director General of the agency that the state government had through his agency in conjunction with the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) had taken some truck loads of relief materials consisting of food items, drugs and non- food items among others on no fewer than about six occasions to the IDP camps in the affected three local governments of Munya, Rafi and Shiroro especially in Gwada ,Kuta and Kagara IDPs camps, respectively
Nalongo, a former chairman of Wushishi Local Government Council, in the last administration in the state, stated this against the backdrops of media reports in some national media organizations that in Gwada, Kuta and Munya LGAs that some IDP camps of the state were allegedly neglected and were said to have been battling with a shortage or outrightly being confronted with the challenges of inadequate food items at the camps, while some children at the IDPs camps were having malnutrition, hence the calls for urgent attention by the state government and NGOs, to address the severe issues of hunger, disease and malnutrition especially by the children said to have been threatening their existence at the various IDPs camps inhabited by the vulnerable people.
Recall that the IDPs were said to have appealed during a visit to the Gwada and Kuta IDP camps in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state by some journalists representing several Media Houses during the week.
They were also quoted to have decried the perceived nonchalant attitude towards their plights by the Niger State Government and appealed to corporate citizens and philanthropic organisations for assistance.
But while fielding questions from the newsmen, the DG, Internally Displaced Persons Agency in the Niger State, Hon. Danjuma Suleiman Nalongo said, “in the past six months when I took over as I mentioned earlier, the number of times we have taken relief materials to the IDPs camps or to the vulnerable people as an assistance from the state government to cushion the effects of the hardships on them.”
He, however, pointed out that people talked about the IDP camps in Shiroro, Rafi and Munya alone, because of their proximity to Minna, the state capital, noting that the problems were not limited to these three Local Government Areas of the state alone, adding that it cut across the two senatorial districts of Niger East and North of the state.
Nalongo described it as very unfortunate that Niger State is one of the states affected by insurgency problems in the country, adding that the government is trying its best in making sure that the IDP problems in parts of the state are reduced to the barest minimum, just as he emphasized that government alone cannot solve the problems while calling on stakeholders such as the NGOs, corporate citizens, religious organizations and the development partners to ensure that all hands are on deck to assist the government in assisting the vulnerable people who were affected by the issues of internally displaced persons after violent attacks on the people not only in their ancestral homes but also on their farmlands in the rural communities which are far away from the state capital.
He also described as very unfortunate that while government is trying it’s best to take care of the IDPs in parts of the state, that the numbers is increasing again, stressing that about 4,055 IDPs being mentioned in the Media earlier, was not static, highlighting that the data fluctuate from time to time.
“Initially when there was attacks, we had more numbers but when the vulnerable people have returned to their Communities,the numbers decreased because most of them goes back to their villages and farmlands. But when there is an attack again, they will come back to the IDP camps and the numbers will increase more.
“Though we have some permanent people in the camps and they cannot go back to their communities because their houses, have been destroyed, their cattle and goats have been rustled and some other things like that. However, the solution to the problems is constant interventions by the state government. And I am aware that the government is doing it’s best, making sure that their sufferings is reduced to the barest minimum, though it cannot be totally eradicated, unless if the security challenges bedevilling the state is totally reduced or if it can stop outrightly, over which the government is trying it’s best,” the DG said.
He also mentioned the problem of some bad eggs within the communities who were sabotaging the efforts of the government and the security agencies by being Informants to the Insurgent groups for selfish interest.
Speaking further, Lalongo disclosed that he had virtually moved his office from it’s headquarters in Minna to Shiroro, and Munya LGAs of the state in order to properly supervise and to oversee the welfare of the IDPs at the various camps adding that this is to ensure that whatever the government provides was properly utilized, following the reports that some of the relief materials that were getting to the camps,that if the IDPs had problems, they would take one or two bags of the food items and go and sell them to people in the communities outside the camps.
“So, I have relocated my office very close to the camps so that all those things can stop. If we can feed the IDPs, because of their conditions and yet they end up selling the relief materials, then what is the need,” the DG, declared.
Speaking on the issues of the high number of out-of-school children, the prevalence of diseases and inadequate sanitation facilities in Kuta and Gwada IDP camps, coupled with about 80 persons sleeping in one classroom, Nalongo stated further that he was there a few days ago and met the community leaders, students union representatives, as well as Christians and Islamic religion representatives in the three local government areas of the state.
According to him, “we sat down together and said how do we assist these vulnerable children who are roaming the camps and roaming the communities because at the end of the day,leaving them like this it will compound the problems.
“We draw the itinerary on how to give them Islamic and Western education. We have volunteers from the Christian Association of Nigeria,Niger State Chapter’s representatives and we have volunteers from the Muslim Students representatives. We sat down together and we made a template and time table to engage these vulnerable children into lessons,so that as future leaders and we can have Presidents or Governors among them. But when we neglect them, we don’t know what they can become in future.”
He said the two IDP camps in Shiroro were housing over 4,055 persons, including 38 people from Zamfara State, while many were staying outside the camps, all of whom he stated were displaced by attacks from suspected Boko Haram groups and other insurgent groups terrorists at their respective rural villages and farmlands in parts of the state.
Meanwhile, the Niger State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Baba Suleiman, has said that there were currently over 40,000 IDPs spread across the state, adding that the State Governor, Umaru Bago, has been providing them with all the necessary support needed for a comfortable life through NSEMA.
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