BY ABDULLAI ISAH, MAIDUGRI
The Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, has called on individuals, corporate organizations and the international community to donate food to the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in the North-East geo-political zone of the country.
Senator Ndume, who is also the senator representing Southern Borno district at the National Assembly, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri. He said that in the last two years the IDPs have not gotten the opportunity to farm, adding that with the global warming, drought is anticipated across the globe, hence the need to assist the people of the region to avoid food crisis.
Ndume said “I was just coming from the IDP camp in Damboa. I saw people with evidence of hunger and malnutrition. Our people in Gwoza and Bama don’t even have access to food, water and drugs, as the road linking them remains closed, so they are seriously facing food crisis.
“As the military are tackling the Boko Haram security challenges, the monster before us is food crisis and hunger and until groups, organizations and the international community intervenes the danger ahead of us is enormous”, the Senate leader added.
He said that through his friends and associates, he was able to send food worth N3 million and N6 million to Damboa and Gwoza local governments areas respectively, while food items worth N3 million are on their way to Askira/UBA Local Government areas all in his constituency.
He said only 8 percent of 2.7 million IDPs in the North-east are living in the camps, while 92 percent are living within the host communities, either renting houses in places they consider safe with little or no attention on them, stressing that there is need for comprehensive and coordinated strategy to cater for the IDPs within the host communities.
According to him, the people of Gwoza are suffering without food, water and medicines and no accessible road, pointing out that he has sent his team of engineers to Gwoza to assess the water needs of Gwoza town with a view to repairing them.
On the issue of budget, the Senate leader said the federal lawmakers are not at logger heads with President Muhammadu Buhari but that what was unfolding was a normal budget process and lamented the way and manner people are blowing it out of proportion, adding that they had similar scenario during former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Late Yar Adua.
