16th September, 2015
At least 325,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are taking refuge in various camps in Plateau, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Malam Abdulsalam Mohammed, its Coordinator in the North-Central, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Wednesday that most of the IDPS were from the crises-ridden states of the North-east.
“This figure was computed some months ago; from what we have heard from the fields, the figure must have gone up now,” he said.
He said, however, that NEMA was expecting the figure to go down soon, following the reported success of the Nigerian army in the fight against insurgency.
The NEMA official said that the agency had consistently worked toward improved living conditions for people in the IDPS, and promised to do even more till they all moved to more permanent abodes.
He said that officials were usually assigned to the camps, while some visit them intermittently to check their living conditions.
“In fact, I have just visited an IDPs camp located in building materials area in Bukuru, Jos South local government area, and I am happy to tell you that I met them in a very good condition.
“I took special interest in the children and can tell you that they are healthy and in very good condition too,” he said.
He said that NEMA had also initiated some lessons to aid the educational growth of children to ensure that they were not left behind.
“We have engaged some qualified teachers to teach the children in some make-shift classes.
“Some of the IDPs wrote this year’s Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) at various centres; NEMA registered for them,” he said.
The NEMA official said that steps had also been taken to secure the IDPS camps to forestall any attacks from unknown persons.
He also advised the IDPs to be security conscious and report any suspicious movement to the authorities.
Reacting to reported rape cases in some IDPs camps, he said that NEMA had met with some women groups where it discussed strategies to protect women against such attacks.
“We have told the women to be alert and be mindful of where they go to.
“We have also told them to be conscious of who they relate with and avoid going to anyone to beg for any favour so that their vulnerability will not be exploited by people with evil minds,” he said