Buhari ordered arrest.
Buhari orders arrest of
food aid thieves
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has
ordered police to arrest government officials
accused of stealing food aid intended for victims
of Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria.
Garba Shehu, President Buhari’s spokesman
gave this indication on Thursday.
“The president has asked the Inspector General
of the police to catch some of these alleged
thieves, to look out for them and make public
examples of them,” Shehu, told the Thomson
Reuters Foundation by phone.
The Nigerian Senate last week launched an
investigation into allegations of food aid being
stolen and sold by state officials in Borno state,
where aid agencies have warned of starvation,
malnutrition and dwindling food supplies for the
displaced.
Public outcry was sparked in April when photos
posted on social media appeared to show food
aid on sale in shops. The items had logos of aid
agencies, leading many to believe they had been
diverted by state officials in camps for the
displaced.
Hundreds of people displaced by Boko Haram
militants last week left their camps to stage a
protest in Maiduguri, Borno’s capital, to demand
more aid, accusing officials of stealing food
rations.
Protesters said they wanted to receive food aid
directly, rather than through state-run feeding
committees in the camps.
However, the government of Borno state
dismissed the allegations of theft, and said they
were politically motivated ahead of general and
presidential elections in 2019.
“There are some politicians exploiting the IDP
(internally displaced persons) situation for
political purposes, by spreading rumours about
food stealing,” said Isa Gusau, spokesman for
the state governor, Kashim Shettima.
“It is radically difficult to divert food,” he said,
adding that the international aid agencies
involved in the distribution of aid would have
spoken out if they had noticed any wrongdoing.
The U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) last
month warned that up to 5.5 million people in
Nigeria’s northeast might soon need food aid,
double the current number, as soaring inflation
was pushing up food prices.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in late July
that severely malnourished children are dying in
large numbers in the region, where food supplies
are close to running out, and warned of “pockets
of what is close to a famine”.
Nigeria’s army, backed by its neighbours, has
retaken most territory previously lost to Boko
Haram, which launched an insurgency in the
northeast seven years ago.
But most of the 2.3 million Nigerians who have fled are afraid to go back and cultivate their fields as the security situation remains volatile.
#NAN
food aid thieves
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has
ordered police to arrest government officials
accused of stealing food aid intended for victims
of Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria.
Garba Shehu, President Buhari’s spokesman
gave this indication on Thursday.
“The president has asked the Inspector General
of the police to catch some of these alleged
thieves, to look out for them and make public
examples of them,” Shehu, told the Thomson
Reuters Foundation by phone.
The Nigerian Senate last week launched an
investigation into allegations of food aid being
stolen and sold by state officials in Borno state,
where aid agencies have warned of starvation,
malnutrition and dwindling food supplies for the
displaced.
Public outcry was sparked in April when photos
posted on social media appeared to show food
aid on sale in shops. The items had logos of aid
agencies, leading many to believe they had been
diverted by state officials in camps for the
displaced.
Hundreds of people displaced by Boko Haram
militants last week left their camps to stage a
protest in Maiduguri, Borno’s capital, to demand
more aid, accusing officials of stealing food
rations.
Protesters said they wanted to receive food aid
directly, rather than through state-run feeding
committees in the camps.
However, the government of Borno state
dismissed the allegations of theft, and said they
were politically motivated ahead of general and
presidential elections in 2019.
“There are some politicians exploiting the IDP
(internally displaced persons) situation for
political purposes, by spreading rumours about
food stealing,” said Isa Gusau, spokesman for
the state governor, Kashim Shettima.
“It is radically difficult to divert food,” he said,
adding that the international aid agencies
involved in the distribution of aid would have
spoken out if they had noticed any wrongdoing.
The U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) last
month warned that up to 5.5 million people in
Nigeria’s northeast might soon need food aid,
double the current number, as soaring inflation
was pushing up food prices.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in late July
that severely malnourished children are dying in
large numbers in the region, where food supplies
are close to running out, and warned of “pockets
of what is close to a famine”.
Nigeria’s army, backed by its neighbours, has
retaken most territory previously lost to Boko
Haram, which launched an insurgency in the
northeast seven years ago.
But most of the 2.3 million Nigerians who have fled are afraid to go back and cultivate their fields as the security situation remains volatile.
#NAN
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