John Adams, Minna
Over 1000 persons displaced from their communities, Manta and Jiko, in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State following bandits attacks are to be repatriated to their homes because of fear of coronavirus.
The displaced people, mostly women and children, fled their homes last Tuesday and Wednesday as a result of onslaught on them by heavily armed bandits and are currently taking refuge at the Bosso Primary School in Minna, the state capital.
It was gathered that the decision to repatriate them to their villages was agreed between the state government and the their local government chairmen yesterday in order to avoid the displaced people contracting the coronavirus if left at the temporary Internally Displaced Persons camp.
Following the agreement reached between the state government and the local government areas, security will be reinforced in the affected communities.
According to a source close to the camp, “any moment from now the people will be returning to their villages.
“We have assured them that adequate security will be put in place for them to live their normal lives.
“There is pandemic everywhere now and we cannot afford to have a twin problem on our hands which is why we are asking them to go back.”
When contacted the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, confirmed the story but did not say when the villagers will start moving back to their ancestral homes.