Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has advocated a multi-faceted approach in tackling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) problems in the country.
Citing concerns of some IDPs to return to their homes states, Governor Masari tasked National Refugees Commission (NRC) on the need to conduct survey of IDPs to determine those that had decided to return permanently to their home states where they are currently taking refuge.
Speaking when a federal commissioner in the agency, Hajiya Sa’adiyya Umar, paid him a courtesy visit in Katsina yesterday, the governor noted that with insurgency now effectively tackled in the North East, the commission should also determine the IDPs wishing to return to the zone.
Masari pointed out that a large number of families among the IDPs forced by activities of insurgents to return to Katsina State after decades in the North East who had decided against moving back to zone should be assisted by the commission to settle down among their Kith and kin.
The governor however stressed the need for the commission to work with the Katsina State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for the successful distribution of relief materials to IDPs scattered across the 34 local government areas in the state.
He however commended the federal government’s interventions to boost the welfare of IDPs, adding that only recently SEMA distributed materials obtained from NEMA and some corporate bodies and institutions to IDPs.
Earlier, the federal commissioner, Hajiya Sa’adiyya Umar, who was in Katsina State to flag off the distribution of relief materials in Daura, said the town was selected for the event because it had the highest number of IDPs in the state.
Umar also expressed gratitude to the governor for his assistance to the commission which facilitated the distribution of the relief materials.