Boko Haram: Displaced persons build new town in Adamawa
(Nigeria) Following activities of Boko Haram terrorists in parts of
the North East, thousands of displaced citizens from Gwoza have found a new
town in Adamawa State called Daware in Fofure Local
Government Area and there are indications that many of these may never return
to their original homes.
Gwoza, a vast local government in
On 30 May 2014, the traditional ruler, the Emir of Gwoza,
Idrissa Timta, was killed after his abduction along with the Emir of Uba,
Ismaila Mamza, by armed men, in Hawul LGA on their way to attend the funeral of
the Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar.
And during the second week of August, the a son of Timta who
was installed after his father’s murder ran away from the town after the
terrorists finally overran the town, sacking the Police Mobile Unit training school
and declaring it headquarters of their newly founded Caliphate.
A village head in Gwoza, Alhaji Idrissa Lawan who is now a
resident of Dawari following his displacement told our correspondent in an
interview that majority of those who fled to Daware are no longer thinking of
returning to their original homes.
Lawan told PRNigeria and members of Journalists Against
Disaster Initiative, JADI, on a mission to evaluate the condition of internally
displaced persons in Adamawa
State that a resident of
Gwoza who fled to Dawari settled down and after a month, returned home. On his
way back to his new place of abode, about 300 others followed him and the
population has swelled to over 3,000 since then.
PRNigeria gathered that although Daware had existed as a
hamlet before now, the over three thousand fleeing residents of Gwoza and its
environs have now turned it into a bigger village.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA
and Adamawa State Government only recently discovered the now sprawling
community located off Yola-Mubi highway following the invasion of Mubi by the
terrorists and search was conducted to discover where residents fled to.
The condition given for their stay in Daware was that no
temporary tents will be erected as the new residents have been allotted both
farm and building plots to begin normal life but NEMA has continued to support
the IDPs with essential food and non-food relief items.
The team also visited the temporary IDPs camp at Nyako
Housing Estate in Yola, NYSC Permanent Orientation IDP Camp and and Malkohi
where those camped in Nyako IDPs camp have now been moved to.
The National Emergency Management Agency has said that some
of the common challenges affecting the smooth operations in the four Internally
Displaced Person camps in Adamawa State have been identified, giving the total
number of IDPs as 12,000.
The tour, which was led by Director General, National
Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi had representatives of
united Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNOCHA and Journalists Against
Disaster, JADI.
Sani-Sidi, gave told the IDPs that concerted approach will
now be apply to address the challenges aimed at making life more meaningful for
the displaced persons in the camps and ordered immediate additional supply of
mattresses to replace those already carted away by displaced persons who had
left the camps.
He also warned against shoddy treatment of people with
ailment and approved special packages for voluntary teacher to improve the
teaching of IDP children currently on the camps.
He noted that the issue of displaced person is causing great
concern to the Federal government and citizens of the country, but gave an
assurance that all necessary steps will be taken to address them including
flushing out insurgents from their hideouts.
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