By Yaro Daniel Onyiloyi,

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), the key Nigerian NGO which has been monitoring and tracking the efforts to rehabilitate and resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has expressed horror against alleged corruption in the management of IDPs and what it called the culpable silence of governments at all levels on that. It alleged callousness in the treatment of IDPs, adding in a statement by its Executive Director, Mallam Yunusa Zakari Y’au in Bauchi that its partners in Maiduguri and in other locations had observed various ways in which food items meant for IDPs had been diverted by officials and taken to either markets for sale or misappropriated by these officials for their personal and private use. Coming on the heels of demonstrations on the streets last Thursday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by IDPs, the statement also made reference to stories of extortion in which officials demanded for money from IDPs to register to collect relief materials as well as sexual gratification from IDPs.

“We in the north east are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas formerly controlled by the insurgents but we are now extremely worried and alarmed that our brothers sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due do callousness of these government officials who government entrusted the welfare and wellbeing of IDPs to”, the statement added.

CITAD argued that this is not the first time that these Nigerians had to complain about the systematic starvation that they have been subjected to by people whose responsibility it is to care for them and that many people, especially children, are already dead from hunger and malnutrition, development which it said had been reported in the media. CITAD further claimed that on several occasions, both state and federal governments have been alerted to this but they have often either dismissed it or simply make some symbolic noises and let the matter to continue unabated. The lack of action from government to take concrete measures to stop this haemorrhage of resources meant for IDPs, it said, is resulting in a situation in which government is, by its own inaction, aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by the Boko Haram insurgents. As such, surviving Boko Haram tend to become only a stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials, the statement point out.

Situating diversion of relief materials and corruption in lack of proper instrument, institution or national policy to deal with IDPs as a result of Nigeria not having domesticated the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration, the NGO insists that the country has been relying on adhoc structures. It, therefore, sees this as the time for an immediate enactment of such instrument by the government.

It called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately launch a serious investigation into the diversion of relief materials meant for various IDP camps across the region while also demanding both state and federal governments to take immediate steps to ensure that relief materials, especially food items, are delivered promptly to those unfortunate to have been victims of Boko Haram insurgency. It said anti-corruption war must transcend mere official declaration to the realm of openness, transparency, asking governments to demand accountability from its officials and agents. This, it pointed out, is the minimum expectation form a government that has made a promise to rid the country of corruption.

By Rita Michael, Bauchi

A non-governmental organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate diversion of relief materials meant for Infernally Displaced camps in the Northeast.
The CITAD Executive Director, Ya’u Zakari Ya’u, made the appeal in a statement made available to newsmen in Bauchi yesterday.
He said that both the states in the Northeast and the Federal governments must ensure that relief materials especially food items are promptly delivered to the displaced persons.
Ya’u said, “We like to reiterate that corruption cannot be corruption by mere official declaration. It can only be fought when government embraces openness, transparency and demand accountability from its officials and agents.”
The CITAD director explained that it was only when government embraces openness, transparency and accountability that Nigerians could view the promise it made of ridding the country of endemic corruption.
He wondered why the Federal government lacks proper instrument or institution to deal with issues of IDPs which he attributed to failure of the government to domesticate the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration.
According to him, “Without such, government has been relying on adhoc structure and diversion of relief materials and corruption is the results. This therefore is the time that government must put in place a proper IDPs policy”.
He recalled that on several occasions both the states and federal governments have been alerted on the issue of relief material diversion, but they often either dismissed or make noises and let the matter to continue unabated.
According to Ya’u, “This is not the way a government elected on the basis of its promise to stem out corruption in the country should respond to the unscrupulous acts of corruption.
“The lack of action from the government to take concrete measures to stop this hemorrhage of resources meant for the IDPs is resulting in a situation in which the government by its own inaction is aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by Boko Haram insurgents, and have seen their loved ones killed.”
Ya’u said that it would appear to the IDPs that surviving Boko Haram is the only stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials, describing the action as a major crime against humanity.
He further explained that CITAD is horrified by the callous way IDPs are being treated and the culpable silence of governments at all levels, saying various ways in which food item meant for the displaced persons have been diverted by officials and taken to markets for sale or misappropriated by those officials for their personal use.
“There are also many stories of extortion in which officials demand for money from the IDPs to register to collect relief materials, as well as other abuses such as demanding for sexual gratification from the IDPs”, he said.
As a result of these negative tendencies, he said, many people especially children have died of hunger and malnutrition, as has been reported by the media.
He recalled that the August 25, 2016 demonstration by thousands of impoverished internally displaced persons on the streets of Maiduguri that they have not been fed for days is an attestation of the systematic starvation the IDPs have been subjected to by the people who have been saddled with the responsibility to care for them.
He expressed delight that people in the Northeast are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas hitherto controlled by the insurgents, but are worried that their brothers, sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due to callousness of officials who government entrusted the welfare and well-being of the IDPs.

http://nigerianewsflight.com/article/investigate-diversion-idps%E2%80%99-relief-materials-ngo-advises-efcc

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

An Nongovernmental Organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to seriously investigate diversion of relief materials meant for various IDPs camps across the Northeast sub-region of the country.
The Centre Executive Director, Ya’u Zakari Ya’u said in a statement made available to newsmen at weekend in Bauchi, that those needy and unfortunate Nigerians referred to as IDPs are victims of Boko Haram insurgents.
“We like to reiterate that corruption cannot be corruption by mere official declaration, it can only be fought when government embrace openness, transparency and demand accountability from its officials and agents,” Ya’u said.
The CITAD director explained that it is only when government embrace openness, transparency and accountability that Nigerians could view the promise it made of ridding the country of endemic corruption.
Ya’u therefore wondered why the federal government lacks proper instrument or institution to deal with issues of IDPs which he attributed to failure of the government to domesticate the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration.
“Without such, government has been relying on adhoc structure and diversion of relief materials and corruption is the results. This therefore is the time that government must put in place a proper IDPs policy”.
He recalled that on several occasions both the states and federal governments have been alerted on the issue of relief material diversion, but they often either dismissed or make noises and let the matter to continue unabated.
According to the centre, this is not the way a government elected on the basis of its promise to stem out corruption in the country should respond to the unscrupulous acts of corruption.

Probe diversion of IDPs relief materials, CITAD urges EFCC

Press Statement August 26, 2016

Yesterday, Thursday 25th August, thousands of impoverished Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) demonstrated in the streets of Maiduguri, protesting that for days they were not being fed. This was not the first time that these unfortunate Nigerians have to complain about the systematic starvation that they have been subjected to by people who have responsibility to care for them. As a result of this, many people, especially children have died of hunger and malnutrition. This has been widely reported in the papers.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) which has been monitoring and tracking the efforts to rehabilitate and resettle IDPs is horrified by the callous way IDPs are treated and the culpable silence of governments at all levels. Our partners in Maiduguri and in other locations have observed various ways in which food items meant for IDPs have been diverted by officials and taken to either markets for sale or misappropriated by these officials for their personal and private use. There are also many stories of extortion in which officials demand for money from IDPs to register to collect relief materials as well as other abuses such as demanding for sexual gratification from IDPs.

We in the north east are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas formerly controlled by the insurgents but we are now extremely worried and alarmed that our brothers sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due do callousness of these government officials who government entrusted the welfare and wellbeing of IDPs to.

On several occasions both state and federal governments have been alerted to this, but they have often either dismissed it or simply make some symbolic noises and let the matter to continue unabated. We feel that this is not the way a government elected on the basis of its promise to stem out corruption in our country should respond to these unscrupulous acts of corruption. The lack of action from government to take concrete measures to stop this hemorrhage of resources meant for IDPs is resulting in a situation in which government by its own inaction is aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by the Boko Haram insurgents and have seen their loved ones killed. It would appear them, that surviving Boko Haram, is only a stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials. This is a major crime against humanity.

Part of the problem is that our government has yet to wake up to the fact that it has no proper instrument or institution to deal with IDPs. We have no national Policy on IDPs. We have failed as a nation to domesticate the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration. Without such, government has been relying on adhoc structure and diversion of relief materials and corruption are the results. This therefore is the time that government must put in place a proper IDP Policy. We make for the call for an immediate enactment of such instrument.

We at CITAD also call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately launch a serious investigation into the diversion of relief materials meant for various IDP camps across the region. In the meant time we that demand that both state and federal governments must take immediate steps to ensure that relief materials, especially food items are delivered promptly to these needy and unfortunate Nigerians whose only crime if it, is to have been victim of Boko Haram insurgents.

We like to reiterate a point we have make in several times that corruption cannot be corruption by mere official declaration, it can only be fought when government embrace openness, transparency and demand accountability from its officials and agents: that is the minimum we expect form a government that has made a promise to rid the country of corruption.
Y. Yaú

Executive Director