We still have 32 IDP camps in Borno – NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency said Internally Displaced Persons camps in Borno State remained 32 in spite of recent return of some persons to liberated communities.
The North East Coordinator of the agency, Malam Muhammad Kanar, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Maiduguri.
Kanar said 16 of the camps were located in Maiduguri, while 16 were cited in some local government areas.
He said that the number of displaced persons in the camps in Maiduguri ranged from 120,000 to 130,000.
Kanar said: “We still have 32 camps in the state; 16 of the camps are in Maiduguri, while 16 others are in the local government areas, which we call satellite camps.
“The number of persons in the 16 camps in Maiduguri fluctuates between 120,000 and 130,000; sometimes it is 120,000, sometimes it is less depending on the situation.”
He said that the number of IDPs in satellite camps was 400,000, adding that no fewer than 1.2 million IDPs were also staying with relatives in the communities.
He said that the agency had been striving hard to provide welfare for the IDPs wherever they were located.
Kanar said: “We have gone far in the management of the camps; we have graduated from central cooking system which was problematic, to dry ratio system which has been successful.
“What we do is to supply the required food items for the feeding of the IDPs to the State Emergency Management Agency every month in line with the Memorandum of Understanding that we have.”
“The state government will thereafter supply the condiments and other items to the IDPs. They also provide cooking materials to them.”
He said that the system had been very successful as it had ended the era of complaints of poor feeding by the IDPs.
He also said: “We are working in partnership with about 50 Non-Governmental Organizations in offering humanitarian services to the IDPs.
“But, only about 10 of them have been most active, with some taking over the feeding of an entire camp.”
Kanar disclosed that NEMA was working on plans to offer help to IDPs leaving inside communities through collaborative effort with some of the NGOs.