Airforce deploys helicopter for peace in
Taraba
The National Emergency Management
Agency yesterday debunked allegations
by the House of Representatives that it
spent N13 billion on internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in one month.
The chairman, House Committee on
Emergency and Disaster Preparedness
had raised the allegation.But the
agency’s spokesperson, Sani Datti in a
statement in Abuja, said the claim was
without factual basis whatsoever,
adding that it was fraudulent, malicious
and only existed in the imagination of
the makers.
“For the record, the agency is
constrained to inform the public that on
the assumption of office by the new
director general, only N4.6 million was
in the coffers for the multitude of
problems, including 1.8 million IDPs in
the North East.
“The problem also got confounded by a
report from humanitarian actors that
due to scaling down of funding by
donor agencies, their activities in
region would naturally scale down,” the
statement reads in part.
It further said: “Furthermore, it was
reported that there was apprehension of
eminent hunger and famine. Faced with
this reality, the director general was
forced to urgently raised the issue with
the Acting President who
magnanimously approved the release of
30,905 metric tonnes of assorted food
items.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force
(NAF) has deployed one of its armed
helicopters to Takum, Taraba State to
maintain peace in the area. A statement
by its spokesman, Air Commodore
Olatokunbo Adesanya yesterday in
Abuja, said the deployment was to deter
the warring communities from further
engaging in violent activities. He noted
that the facility was already carrying
out armed reconnaissance missions on
the Mambilla Plateau and its environs.