By Olukayode Michael, Maiduguri
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has given emergency relief items to more than 4,300 households, recently displaced by the armed conflict in Borno State.
The ICRC in a press statement on Tuesday said these materials were distributed in Monguno town, in northern part of the troubled state.
The statement quoted Sadiq Baba Ahmed, ICRC’s Economic Security Field Officer in Monguno, as saying that: “These families fled the violence, leaving everything behind them.”
He said: “We have supported a total number of 4,392 families with mats, blankets, clothes, solar lamps, cooking equipment and hygiene kits among others, to allow them to cover their basic needs.”
He added that: “There are currently more than a dozen of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Monguno town– all of which are overstretched.
“Since December 2018, we have witnessed a huge influx of IDPs, mostly from Kukawa Local Government. These people have been forced out of their homes due to the hostilities and are in a dire situation.”
A community leader in Fulatari Camp where about 1,500 households received ICRC’s relief items, Musa Haruna was quoted to have said: “For months, our people have been subjected to a lot of suffering, most of them without a single mat to put their heads on.”
The statement noted that: “The ICRC is also in the process of constructing 2’000 family shelters in some of the camps and is supporting clinics in Monguno.”
