…says ‘retaining displaced persons in camps a time bomb’
Senate Committee on Special Duties says Federal Government spends N5 billion monthly to cater for the victims of insurgency in the North East of the country.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Friday in Abuja on the outcome of his panel members’ recent visit to the North-East geopolitical zone.
But he explained that no amount of resources was adequate to sustain the 2.7 million displaced persons in the various camps.
Yusuf lamented that most of the victims of insurgency were eager to return home and fend for themselves but many of their villages were still inaccessible.
He warned that Nigeria might witness a major crisis from the IDPs, most of whom are orphans below the age of 18, if nothing was done to resettle them in their villages
The lawmaker said, “It is a very sad thing that I have seen in the IDP camps. There are 2.7 million people in the IDP camps across the northeastern states.
“No amount of resources that can sustain or take care of their palliatives.
“The government and the development partners are doing their best but the resources are very small.
“We cannot sustain spending the N5bn a month to take care of these people.
“We cannot continue to believe that the IDP syndrome should continue. We must exit it at one time or the other. It is a sad thing.
“There are children who are orphans in all respect and most of them are below the age of 18. It’s a time bomb waiting to explode.
“All of us, what we should do is to work together, accept the fact that security is important, the security agents should be given enough courage because the government is doing its own best but the security agencies, though they are trying, their best is not enough.
“The people in the IDP camps want to go back to their homes, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t go back.
“All hands must be on deck and make sure that security is provided for them to go back to their homes so that we can reduce the mounting pressure on our resources to take care of the IDPs.”