Tribune / Nigeria: President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Saturday, stated that the Senate would investigate the hunger and nutrition crisis in the Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) in the North-East.
Last Thursday, hundreds of women from camps in Borno State barricaded the Maiduguri-Kano/Jos Road.
While reacting to the protest, Saraki described the development as desperate and reiterated his calls for better coordination among government and international aid agencies.
He emphasised the need for the country to quickly operationalise a more effective and efficient humanitarian response infrastructure to address the 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 Nigerians heart to know that our own women and children are enduring such horrendous hardships,” he stated.
The Senate President further called on the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the diversion of food aid deliveries, stressing that government officials and contractors should be held to account for how truckloads of provisions intended for the IDP camps went missing.
“Anyone that is found to be diverting the food aid deliveries should be investigated and brought to book if investigations proved 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.”
