*Nationwide audit ordered
By Laraba MUREY
A huge consignment of relief materials meant for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, was recently discovered in classrooms at the Durumi IDP camp in the Federal Capital Territory.
The supplies, comprising food and non-food items, were reportedly stashed away by yet-to-be identified government officials, believed to have kept the items for onward diversion to the black market.
The Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, NCFRMI, Aliyu Ahmed, stumbled on the consignment, Thursday, February 13, 2025 while at the camp to inaugurate a computer centre donated by Brand Life Vision Foundation.
In recent times, intervention efforts in Nigeria have suffered serious set backs, due to mismanagement and diversion of relief supplies by some politicians and government officials.
Recall that in 2016, Babachir Lawal, the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was probed for alleged diversion of funds and materials meant for IDPs.
IDPs have been left to feel the impact of these corrupt practices, as many children in IDP camps across the country are faced with hunger and malnourishment caused by food rationing and diversion of foods by camp officials.
The NCFRMI boss, while expressing his displeasure over the recent discovery at the Durumi Camp vowed to investigate the alleged mismanagement and also expand similar investigations to other parts of the country.
Ahmed, who embarked on an unscheduled inspection of the camp, discovered that food and non-food items meant for distribution to IDPs were being stored in classrooms instead of being distributed.
The commissioner, who condemned the situation, vowed to take action.
“On our arrival, we saw so many things that were not necessary to happen here in this camp.
“We have seen a situation where some of the classrooms were used to keep both food and non-food items that were supposed to have been distributed to the IDPs.
“We will not take that. We will deal with the situation severely.”
Following the discovery, the commissioner announced plans to set up a committee to investigate similar cases in other IDP camps across Abuja and beyond.
“What we saw here is alarming. We will extend our investigation to other camps because if it’s happening here, it could be happening elsewhere,” he added.
The commissioner assured the IDPs that the government remains committed to their welfare.
He also promised to relocate 40 households from Durumi to a permanent resettlement site in Keffi, Nasarawa State, where they will have access to education, healthcare, and security.
He said, “the Commission will sponsor 10 IDP camp students to pursue their university education in one of the universities that we are going to have a partnership with.
“We are going to pay for their registration to JAMB and also to pay their school fees for the rest of their stay in the university.”
Also speaking, the founder of Brand Life Vision Foundation, Binta Sidi, explained that the target is to train 1,000 IDPs starting the first phase with 32 in adult education and 21 in computer literacy.
She added that for sustainability, her partnership with the Refugee Commission will extend to getting teachers and more infrastructure for the centre as she hopes to expand the literacy training to other IDP camps in the country.
