Saraki dispatches panel to review humanitarian situation in North East

As part of activities to mark the 2016 World Humanitarian Day, Senate President Bukola Saraki has sent a technical team to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to access the situation in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

The team, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, reviewed coordination between the Federal Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOS), capacity of service delivery programmes and got feedback directly from the IDPs.

At the camps, the team interacted with groups of committed officials and volunteers as well as officials of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) who stated that government was doing all that it possibly could to aid and secure the IDPs.

However, owing to the complexity and scale of the emergency are far beyond government’s capacity, he stressed the need for multilateral cooperation.

Saraki explained that the assignment became imperative following reports from aid agencies that greater attention and a more robust response were needed to alleviate the plight of the over nine million Nigerians in need of relief in the Lake Chad Basin area.

“We cannot afford to take for granted the sacrifice and support of both our domestic and international partners in the North East,” he remarked.

“This is why we must all sit down as quickly as possible to plan the transition from crisis to relief and beyond. We must expedite the processes that are needed to bring about the recovery and rehabilitation of the entire region.” The team also represented Saraki at the North East Humanitarian Summit hosted by UN OCHA and the Network of Civil Society Organisations, Borno State (NECSOB), where 150 IDP Ambassadors – 25 people chosen from six different camps – were inaugurated as representatives of the displaced persons in the state.

The ambassadors are to relay concerns about protection, community input and empowerment of IDPs directly to government and international partners.