BY ABDULLAHI ISAH, MAIDUGURI
The Sweden Government has donated household consignments worth over $56 million for resettlement and stabilization of United Nations Humanitarian workers, working in Borno state and who are living in unsafe and rented houses, as they provide care to Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs across the various camps in Maiduguri and other host communities.
Receiving the consignment Monday at the Maiduguri International Airport, the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Inger Ultvedt, said, the consignment which was first of its kind donated to Nigerian Government by the Swedish Government and its tax payers, is to provide a befitting accommodation and good working environment for humanitarian workers, especially those working outside Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, as most of the IDPs have started returning back to their liberated communities and need much interventions.
The Ambassador said the first Cargo, which arrived Maiduguri from Sweden Monday contained household items such as beddings, chairs, health clinic facilities, kitchen and restaurants, sanitation, generating sets, among others, while the second cargo is expected to arrive Maiduguri via Abuja on Wednesday, 7th December 2016.
The envoy said “Swedish Government and its tax payers are very much concerned about the plight of IDPs and Nigerian and International Humanitarian workers in Borno”.
“As most of these communities have been liberated by troops, it is expected that IDPs will go back to Bama, Gwoza, Kukawa, Baga, Mobbar, Abadam, Dikwa and other Local Government areas to resettle. More so, most of the humanitarian workers have to vacate Maiduguri to these liberated areas, that is why the Swedish Government had to come in to assist by providing befitting accommodation to humanitarian workers in this region,” Ambassador Ultvedt said.
While receiving the consignment on behalf of UN- OCHA and other humanitarian workers in Borno state, the Head of the Sub-Office of the UN Migration Agency (IOM), Miss Nangila Khakula Emma, thanked Swedish government for partnering with IOM and the Nigerian Government in coordinating activities of humanitarian agencies and Non -Governmental Organizations, NGOs, as according to her, most of the humanitarian workers were living in a poor environment with inadequate security.
“This support from Swedish Government through its Civil Contingency Agency will take us to the next level as we deliver on humanitarian access to newly accessible areas. Initially, we are lacking accommodation and offices to coordinate our activities, but with this intervention from the Swedish Government, it will secure spaces to work and increase our capacity, as we work closely with the government of Nigeria and IDPs,” Emma said.
She stated that with these consignments, humanitarian workers and by extension, the IDPs who have started returning back to their homes will heave a sigh of relief, and called on other governments to emulate the Swedish government.
