The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has called for the support of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other stakeholders to resettle victims of the flood disaster that ravaged the state in the past week.
Mr Zulum while receiving the Director General of NEMA who was in Maiduguri to monitor and step up the interventions by NEMA and other stakeholders, said there is a need to relocate residents to their communities.
He said so far there are 36 camps, opened to cater for the displaced.
“These camps will be closed down gradually as the Alau dam flood water continues to recede.
“The state suffered a lot from the experience of sustaining camps for more than a decade during the insurgency and will not want to repeat the mistake again.
“As the water recedes, we have resolved to provide a two week food ration for those in the camps because we believed after two weeks things would be okay for many to return to their homes,” the governor said.
He also urged NEMA to work with SEMA and the flood committee set up so that they would be on the same page for proper coordination of the responses to the emergency.
“There’s a need for coordination to get it right since we are all working towards the same objective of bringing succur to the people.
“The State Government and NEMA will take the lead while donors and development partners are to complement them,” Mr Zulum said.
Earlier, the DG of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, said she was in Borno to monitor and step up interventions as well as identify gaps to be filled.
Umar said that since the occurrence of the incident on Monday, NEMA has been working closely with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the state Disaster Response Unit.
“We have been able to provide interventions in terms of food and non food items, water, ambulances, tents and other things within our capabilities.
“We are still part of the search and rescue team.”
She lauded the leadership exhibited by Zulum and his team in handling the situations since the incident happened and assured him of sustained support from NEMA,” she said.
She announced the donation of 50 tonnes of relief materials from United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be distributed to Borno and other states affected by flood disaster.
