The National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has called for the speedy release of ecological funds for the repair of the access road leading to a resettlement camp located in Nasarawa State and other critical projects.
The federal commissioner of the Commission, Tijani Ahmed, who made the call while addressing newsmen during an inspection of the Yar-Kyande community resettlement camp in Keffi, Nasarawa State emphasised that the allocation of these funds is imperative to expedite the relocation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to resettlement camps scattered across the nation.
The camp, which boasts facilities such as a police station, market, hospital, church, mosque, and school, is on track to be handed over to the IDPs within the next three months.
Addressing newsmen after inspecting the project, Ahmed said: “The level of work has gone very far, hopefully in the next two to three months, this camp will be ready for occupation.
“However, the major challenge we are having is the access road between the town and the camp and that is why the commission is requesting ecological funds because the roads were destroyed as a result of rainfall and flooding from the river nearby.
“We are asking the government to come to our aid so that we can make this place comfortable for the IDPs.
“The road network has to be fixed if truly we want people to come and stay here, so releasing our ecological fund will help us ensure that most of our ongoing projects are completed.”
Ahmed while expressing optimism about accessing the fund said: “The fund has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and we hope in the next few months, we will be able to access it.”
On the number of IDPs that would be moved, he said: “We have 40 blocks of flats that would be occupied by 40 IDP households upon completion. We have these camps in six Nasarawa, Zamfara, Edo, Katsina, Maiduguri, and Kano and we hope in our next budget to have these camps built in ten more States and in the long run, we hope to have them in all the States.”
On when the IDPs who wish to return to their ancestral homes will be returned, he said: “We are making efforts and we have durable solutions to make sure that those who want to return to their ancestral homes are returned and for those who want to be in the resettlement camps, we are making provision for them.”
