Emergency agency says Zamfara has 19,000 IDPs
Emergency agency says Zamfara has 19,000 IDPs
Displacement
By Tosin Kolade
Zamfara, Feb. 7, 2019 (NAN) The Zamfara Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA) has expressed concern over the growing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state numbering 19,000 and called for humanitarian response to their needs.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Alhaji Sanusi Usman, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday.
Usman called for stakeholders’ intervention to provide life-saving support to meet the needs of the displaced population.
According to him, facilities at the host communities are being overstretched with difficulty in meeting their daily needs, saying “it is an emergency’’.
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“Virtually all the local governments of the state, we have 14 local governments, but all the local governments are affected, presently from July 2018 till January, we have over 19,000 IDPs in various camps, we have them at Anka Local governments as I have said, we have them here in Gusau local government, Birnin Magaji, Zurmi, Maradun and Tsafe, so we have about 19,000 plus IDPs.
“Presently, just the day before yesterday, we had attacks in Gusau local government, and the same thing, we gathered the IDPs in Mada Primary School, the State Government is there feeding them, the ZEMA is also coordinating the affairs of the camp.’’
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Sanusi noted that ZEMA was working on coordination in partnership with the state government to prevent humanitarian crises, saying disaster reduction was everyone’s business.
He said that although the state lacked permanent IDP camps, host communities facilities were inadequate and called on all stakeholders in the health, nutrition, sanitation and education sector to provide succor to the populace.
He stressed the need to focus attention on the needs of host communities as the agency had mapped out strategies to improve the lives of the displaced persons.
He added that donor-funded interventions should focus on prevention rather than treatment, saying this must be in line with deliberate funding for sanitation and hygiene at al tiers of government. (NAN)
TAK/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf