Banditry: 15,000 Idps From Sokoto, Zamfara Crossed To Niger Republic, Says NEMA

About fifteen thousand Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Sokoto and Zamfara states have crossed into Niger Republic and are taking refuge there, the coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sokoto Operations Office, Dr Kofoworola Soleye, has disclosed. Speaking during the stakeholders’ meeting on disaster management in Gusau, Dr Soleye said the displaced persons are mainly from 27 communities in Isa local government area of Sokoto state. He said the agency went for an assessment of Nigerian refugees who fled to the neighbouring communities of Guidan Roumdji in Maradi region of Niger Republic in the aftermath of recent armed bandits invasions to villages of Isah Local Government Area of Sokoto state. “They are living in about 9 host communities and are willing to come back to their homes. They need humanitarian assistance as facilities there are overstretched,” he said. Dr. Kofoworola Soleye further explained that he led the agency’s staff, international humanitarian organizations, government authorities and other critical stakeholders to conduct the need assessment exercise. “The assessment team discovered that following the bandits’ attacks no fewer than 15,000 Nigerians mostly women and children are presently taking refuge in neighbouring communities of Niger Republic,” he added. Meanwhile, the agency has donated 20 trucks of relief materials to about 30,000 internally displaced persons across the 14 local government areas of the state.