4th September, 2015
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday donated relief materials to 43,000 Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) in various camps in Jalingo, Taraba.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the IDPs fled violent attacks on communities in parts of the North-East and sought for refuge in the state.
The Head of Field Unit of UNHCR, Mr Daniel Bisu, who distributed the items to 150 households, said that the ceremony was the first phase of the gesture.
He sympathised with the beneficiaries of the donation and assured that other IDPs would benefit in other phases.
Bisu lamented the lingering insurgency in that part of the country and urged Nigerians to be united against Boko Haram.
He commended the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Red Cross in Taraba for properly documenting the IDPs and segmenting them into camps for easy distribution of materials.
Responding, Permanent Secretary of SEMA, Mr Nuvalga Dan-Habu, thanked UNHCR for the assistance to the IDPs, describing it as “timely’’.
Dan-Habu, who was represented by a director in the agency, Mr Paul Tino, said that the IDPs included victims of communal clashes in the state.
He called on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and philanthropists to complement the state efforts by assisting the IDPs.
NAN reports that items distributed by the commission to the IDPs in camps located in Mayo-Dassa, Airstrip and Gulum areas of Jalingo, included mattresses, mosquito nets, slippers, cooking pots and toiletries.