5,000 IDPs Return Home in Niger

Laleye Dipo

At least 5000 internally displaced people in Lavun and Gurara Local Government Areas, Niger state, have returned home following restoration of peace in their towns and villages.

The Director General of Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Mr Ibrahim Inga disclosed this at the distribution of relief materials to the IDPs, some by proxy last Friday.

Inga said some of the relief materials for the former IDPs in Lavun LG had been distributed to the beneficiaries through their community leaders and in the presence of the Deputy Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Mr Ndagi Baba.

The director general added that the Chairman of Gurara LGA. Alhaji Yussuf Wali and one of the councillors also witnessed the distribution of the relief materials at the local council.

Also, in a statement yesterday, NSEMA explained that the relief materials were distributed after bandits attacked the communities late last month.

It explained that the communities in Gurara LGA affected by the March attack were Kabo, Iwa, Kutayi, Zabedna, Baradna, Gufana and Sabon Gari. The statement was however silent on the communities affected in Lavun LGA.

According to the statement, the relief items included bags of rice, jerry cans of groundnut oil and palm oil, Maggi, Salt, washing and bathing Soaps, women wrappers and brocades for Men as well as rubber buckets.

The statement added that the items would go a long way to reduce the sufferings of the affected people.

He also expressed delight that some of the IDPs had returned to their ancestral homes before urging them to be more security conscious. The statement did not state the cost of the items distributed.