How did Nigeria come to have 743,000 refugees within its borders?
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has recorded about
743,062 persons that were internally displaced by conflicts and natural
disasters in various parts of the country, Director General of the
agency Muhammad Sani Sidi has said.
He disclosed this in Calabar at the opening of the annual
consultative meeting of the National Emergency Management Agency with
the heads of all the States Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs),
explaining that 676,975 of the persons were displaced by conflicts and
66,087 by natural disasters as at September 2014.
The Director General NEMA also said that “disaster occurrences and
the number of affected people have risen significantly in recent years
as a result of the impacts of climate change, insurgency, communal
conflicts and skirmishes between farmers and pastoralists amongst
others. This has no doubt impacted negatively in the area of our
development as a nation aside the humanitarian crisis attendant
thereto.”
These, he said require urgent collective action of the stakeholders
to complement the steps taken by the Federal Government which has been
providing necessary assistance to the affected persons through the
National Emergency Management Agency. “The challenges faced by displaced
persons call for serious commitment ” he said, adding that NEMA would
continue to collaborate with the stakeholders to ensure that the
distressed persons are properly taken cared of. He assured that “we will
continue to do this as it constitute our primary responsibility to our
citizens.”
On the consultative meeting, the Director General of NEMA Muhammad
Sani Sidi said it was designed to appraise the available structures,
facilities, challenges and prospects for efficient and effective
disaster management in the country.
The Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Effiok Cobham who
represented Governor Liyel Imoke, while declaring open the meeting
appreciated the role of NEMA in the improvement of disaster management
in the country. He urged the participants to identify and advised
government on measures that focus on disaster prediction and prevention.
