Humanitarian Disaster Looms In NorthWest IDP Camps — PeacePro

The Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) has warned of looming disease risks and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps across the North-West.

The group , therefore, called for urgent intervention to provide food, safe drinking water, shelter, sanitation and healthcare to the IDP camps.

The executive director of PeacePro, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, who raised the alarm in a statement on Thursday, said field observations in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto States raised serious concerns about the welfare of displaced people.

He said his organisation reported encountering more than 30 IDP camps during a visit to Sokoto State, including in the Sabon Birni area.

” In Zamfara, it identified settlements at Tsunami Camp, Government Secondary School Tsunami, Mareri, Tudun Wada and Unguwar Gwaza in Gusau, as well as camps in Anka, Lalan and Premier. It also raised concerns about displaced populations in Katsina State,” he said.

Hamzat warned that inadequate food, unsafe drinking water, poor shelter, deficient sanitation and limited access to healthcare could expose camp residents to preventable diseases and other serious health emergencies.

He called for urgent medical assessments, disease surveillance, essential medicines and the immediate provision of basic relief supplies.

He linked the humanitarian crisis to the wider impact of banditry, which he noted has forced residents to abandon more than 500 communities across the North-West.

Hamzat stressed that the immediate priority must be the survival and welfare of displaced people already living in camps.

He urged the federal government, the Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states governments, emergency management agencies and humanitarian organisations to assess the camps urgently, identify underserved settlements and mobilise emergency assistance. It also called for transparent reporting on identified needs and the relief delivered.

Hamzat warned that the humanitarian consequences of insecurity must not be overlooked, stressing that people forced to flee violence should not be left without the basic necessities required to survive with dignity.

He called for a coordinated and sustained humanitarian response, alongside security measures that would enable displaced communities to return home safely when conditions permit.