Insurgency: 6m displaced in N/E of Nigeria — NCFRM

The Federal Government, yesterday, said Nigeria has over 600,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from the North East of the country alone, since the insurgency started in 2011.

The Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants  and IDPs, NCFRMI, Hajia Hadiza Kangiwa, stated this while briefing journalists on the programmes lined up for 2014 World Humanitarian Day in Abuja, tagged, ‘Become a Messenger of Humanity.”
She said the number of IDPs in Nigeria was increasing daily because of the continued insurgency in the North East of Nigeria.

She said:  “There are over 600,000 IDPs in North East alone and the number is increasing on daily basis and we are not able to get accurate figures of people that are actually displaced as a result of insurgency in the country.

“IDPs and Migrants are very important and the IDPs have increased in the last few years more than ever before due to insurgency.   And we have people who are forced to migrate.   The number of IDPs in Nigeria is overwhelming all of us, considering the resources don’t commiserate with the magnitude of the problem.

“What we are doing is to see how we can put our heads together to bring in more partners in creative way.”

She said it was imperative to create more awareness about humanitarian service world-wide, adding that all was called to bring into action what the world needed most to guarantee their future existence.

“As at today, more than 2,583,977 persons have given their voices to what the world needs most and majority say love.

“For us, we believe that the world needs more helping hands to guarantee our mutual co-existence both now and in the future. This is the very essence of every humanitarian action,” Kangiwa said.

She added that the World Humanitarian Day gave Nigeria the opportunity for sobre reflection on past events and to celebrate those who laid down their lives for others to live.

“The recent security challenges in the country leave us with no choice, but to give thought to honouring humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or have suffered injuries in their line of duties.”