By Adoyi M. Aba
Abuja
In its effort to ensure that affected victims of insurgency were well taken care of and displaced children continue with their education, the federal government through the Presidential Committee on Procurement and Distribution of Relief Materials in states under the state of emergency had distributed relief materials worth N500 million to the affected victims and flagged off the Safe Schools Initiative with 30 pilot schools in the three states.
Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sani-Sidi, who is the chairman of the committee, said the committee was set up by Mr. President due to his concern for the growing numbers of displacement recorded in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states to alleviate their suffering and improve the welfare of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the states.
A statement issued by Senior Information officer, Sanni Datti, said the committee had successfully concluded its assignment by delivering adequate food and non food and other items required at the camps.
In one of the camps, NYSC Orientation Camp, Yola, the director-general said there were about 4, 578 IDPs comprising of 2, 664 males, 1, 229 females and 585 children.
He appealed to the IDPs that were still living in the host communities to come out and register “so that they too can be properly catered for.”
Flagging off the distribution, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Oweala, who represented the president, said they were in the state to all the IDPs were properly taken care of as the matter was top on the agenda of Mr. President.
She added that the federal government through the Safe School Initiative was determined to ensure that all the children of displaced persons and others go to school in an environment that was safe, and that a team had been in Adamawa state to identify some of the schools for the immediate take-off of the programme.
Earlier, during a courtesy visit by the delegation to the palace of Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha, he appreciated the good and sympathetic gesture by the Mr. president by taking care of people who were affected by either the activities of the insurgents or natural disasters and appealed for the sustenance of the supports.
The team, which was led by the Minister of Finance, included the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Hajiya Zainab Maina, and the Minister of Youth Development and former governor of Adamawa state, Boni Haruna.
