By Ndahi Marama

MAIDUGURI—National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, North-East zonal office in Maiduguri, has taken over the daily feeding of 1.6 million Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, at various resettlement camps and other satellite centres across Borno State with a view to addressing malnutrition and other related humanitarian issues.

Bama IDP Camp: A baby at Bama IDP Camp in Maiduguri during Minister’s Tour of Bama . Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

This was disclosed yesterday by the North East Coordinator of the agency, Mallam Mohammed Kanar, during the flag-off of the distribution/presentation of relief items to officials of State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, for onward delivery to IDPs in the state.

Recently, officials of Medicine San Frontiers, known as Doctors without Borders, reported that there was acute malnutrition and food crisis at various camps in Borno State, leading to deaths, but the state government through Governor Kashim Shettima denied the report.

The governor insisted that those that suffered severe malnutrition in Bama and other camps were some hostages freed from insurgency, who spent over two years in captivity without enough food and access to health care delivery before they were taken to IDP camps.

Kanaar however said, “The decision to resume 100% feeding of IDPs by NEMA is to complement effort of the state government and other humanitarian agencies. With sustained effort by the military in liberating many communities, more IDPs are now willing to go back to their communities to continue their normal lives.”

According to him, in recent past, NEMA was solely feeding the IDPs, but it stopped doing so in the last two to three months following coordinated effort by the federal and the state government and other international donor agencies in managing the crisis.

He noted that with concerted efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari towards the plight of IDPs and victims of insurgency, NEMA had been mandated to resume and take care of feeding of IDPs.