By Nuel Suji, Abuja.
About 60, 000 displaced Nigerians are currently seeking asylum in Chad, Niger and Cameroon, a federal commissioner at the Nigerian Refugee Commission, Hadiza Sani Kangiwa, has disclosed.
The commissioner who appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Human Rights in Abuja, Thursday, said their records show that there are about 968,219 IDPs in various camps in the country, while 60,000 Nigerians are seeking asylum in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Kangiwa spoke against the backdrop of the challenges faced by the internally displaced persons in the northeastern Nigeria.
Also speaking at the occasion, Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Ben Angwe, said many Nigerians may become stateless as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in parts of the country.
Angwe said the commission has about 300 monitored reports of human rights violations in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Taraba and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Earlier, Chairperson of the House Committee, Rep. Beni Lar (PDP, Plateau), had requested the three agencies namely; the National Commission for Refugees, National Agency for the Protection of Human Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and NHRC to explain the level of their efforts on the internally displaced persons.
The committee members had expressed concerns over comments made by NHRC chairman Prof Chidi Odinkalu on the state of the Internally Displaced Persons and also resolved to summon him to appear before the House.
In her presentation before the committee, Executive Secretary of NAPTIP, Mrs Beatrice Jedy-Agba said the cases of rapes on the IDPs camps “are exaggerated” based on the findings of the commission.
