President of the Nigeria Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, us angry with people who were alleged to have diverted food items meant for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East leading severe hunger and nutrition crisis in IDP camps and vowed that the Senate will investigate the matter.
Senator Saraki, who was reacting to the Thursday’s public protest by hundreds of women from camps in Borno State, described the development as desperate.
“Anyone that is found to be diverting the food aid deliveries should be investigated and brought to book if investigations prove their participation in these vicious schemes. Profiting from a complex humanitarian crisis is unacceptable. The people of the North East have suffered enough indignities in the past four years from the marauding Boko Haram terrorists. Stealing food meant for starving children is beyond the pale and only adds insult to injury.”
The Senate President called on the Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other law enforcement agencies to quickly move in to investigate the diversion of food aid deliveries. He said that government officials and contractors should be held to account for how truckloads of provisions intended for the IDP camps mysteriously went missing.
“The situation in the North East has been underreported and under resourced for far too many years. In terms of scale and complexity, the situation in the North East is more dire than South Sudan. Yet, apparently the crisis appears not to be sexy or star-studded enough to attract greater international attention and support.”
He emphasized the need for Nigeria to quickly operationalise a more effective and efficient humanitarian response infrastructure to address the dire situation.
“It is important that we all focus on eliminating the coordination, access and food supply issues hindering us from successfully feeding the millions of IDPs. This is particularly important for the many children who are dying daily from starvation. It should break every Nigerians heart to know that our own women and children are enduring such horrendous hardships”, he stated.
Saraki plans to offer a motion on the situation in the North East when the Senate reconvenes from recess next month. The motion specifically calls for the establishment of a Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the North East. Additionally, the motion will call for the conduct of a public hearing for the purpose of the Senate to use its oversight powers to review Nigeria’s humanitarian policies, better understand the current humanitarian coordination infrastructure and hear testimony from witnesses representing the government, humanitarian experts and the IDPs themselves. [myad]
