92% Of IDPs Live In Host Communities, Says IOM Report

A RECENT report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has indicated that 92.4 per cent of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) live with host families while a paltry 7.6 per cent live in official IDP camps.

   The study conducted in Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States in December 2014 put the total number of IDPs at 389,281, with Yobe having the highest number of IDPs of 125,991 followed by Adamawa 123,601, and Taraba 81,790 IDPs.

  Presenting the report during the 12th National Humanitarian Coordination Forum Meeting held at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday in Abuja, the IOM Project Officer, Stephanie Daviot, noted that 54 per cent of the IDP population are children with more than half of them not up to five years old, while 42 per cent are adult.

   The Displacement Tracking Matrix Report (DTM) further showed that Yobe State has been directly affected by the insurgency with parts of its territory fully or partially occupied by the Boko Haram terrorist group.

   In Adamawa State, the report attributed the large number of IDPs to the proximity of the state to Borno, the centre of the insurgency and most especially continuous attack by the terrorist group in Michika, Madagali, Mubi North and South LGAs, which caused displacement from north to the south of Adamawa State, mainly Yola North, Yola South, Fufore, Song and Girei.

  The report also explained that majority of the 81,790 IDPs identified in Taraba state was as a result of the community clashes that occurred in Wukari and Ibbi LGAs, adding that most of IDPs went to Gassol, Jalingo, Takum and Gashaka. It noted that over 14,000 IDPs identified in Jalingo were mainly displaced by insurgency.

  The report attributed reason for displacement in the northeast to insurgency with 77.1 per cent displaced, while 22.4 per cent of the IDPs were forced to leave their homes because of communal clashes and 0.5 per cent was displaced by natural disaster. It explained that in Yobe and Adamawa all IDPs were displaced because of insurgency.

   A sector analysis of the assessed IDP camps however revealed that 40 per cent of the IDPs have access to food, only 50 per cent receive food distributions everyday, while 20 per cent reported never receiving food distribution.