TheCable

About 743, 062 persons have been displaced by conflicts and natural disasters in various parts of the country, Muhammad Sani Sidi, director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said on Thursday.

Speaking in Calabar at the opening of the annual consultative meeting of the agency with the heads of all the states emergency management agencies (SEMAs), Sidi said 676, 975 persons were displaced by conflicts while 66, 087 others were displaced by natural disasters, as of September 2014.

“Disaster occurrences and the number of affected people have risen significantly in recent years as a result of the impacts of climate change, insurgency, communal conflicts and skirmishes between farmers and pastoralists amongst others,” he said.

“This has no doubt impacted negatively on the area of our development as a nation aside the humanitarian crisis attendant thereto.”

These, he said, required urgent collective action of stakeholders to complement the steps taken by the federal government, which had been providing necessary assistance to the affected persons through the agency.

“The challenges faced by displaced persons call for serious commitment. NEMA would continue to collaborate with the stakeholders to ensure that the distressed persons are properly taken care of. We will continue to do this as it constitutes our primary responsibility to our citizens,” Sidi added.

He said the consultative meeting was designed to appraise the available structures, facilities, challenges and prospects for efficient and effective disaster management in the country.

Effiok Cobham, the deputy governor of Cross River state, declared the meeting open, appreciating the role of NEMA in improving disaster management in the country.

He urged the participants to identify and advise the government on measures that focus on disaster prediction and prevention.