The National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) reports that insecurity and natural disasters have displaced over 6.1 million Nigerians.
Tijjani Aliyu, the Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, announced this while meeting with Gov. Dikko Radda in Katsina State on Friday.
- According to him, as of 2022, the commission has about 3 million displaced persons, “but with floods and other natural disasters, we now have an additional 100 per cent of such displaced people.”
- “Today, I can authoritatively say that we have not less than 6.1 million Nigerians displaced out of their homes.
- “What do we do if all of them cannot go back, how do we fend for them? Can the government continue to fend them, providing them security?
- “Absolutely not possible, we have to find a way to teach these individuals trades, give them skills, so that at the end of the day, they can be on their own,” he added.
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Speaking further, Aliyu disclosed the commission’s intention to construct three well-furnished skills acquisition centres across the Northeast, from the 2024/2025 budget.
He said the essence of the visit was to distribute food items to about 700 displaced people in the state.
- “Before today, the commission has been putting its efforts to ensure that these people were not left in an undignified way. Their children have received educational training funds from us.
- “About 120 of them were trained, and also about 70 of their mothers were given some small starter packs to improve their living standard,” he said.
In response, Gov. Radda lauded the commission’s effort, stating that it is a shared duty of the state and federal government to look after the welfare and well-being of the IDPs.
He said the state had recently witnessed a lot of security challenges, especially in eight frontline local government councils of the state.
The governor lamented that the worst affected areas were the food basket of the state, adding that most of the communities were displaced.
Radda, however, noted with satisfaction that with the inauguration of the Katsina Security Watch Corps (SWC), the security situation had improved.
