Buhari and Samantha Power

The Federal Government has begun the process of putting together comprehensive data on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Nigerian refugees with a view to speeding up their resettlement.

President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed this on Thursday when he received the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Amb. Samantha Power, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari said that the compilation of reliable data on IDPs and refugees was being handled by designated Federal Government agencies, the military and other security agencies.

He added that “we have frightening indices on the number of people and the situation in the IDP camps across the country. And in spite of government’s efforts and the hospitality of individuals and organisations, the situation needs better handling.

“A large segment of the IDPs are mostly women and children. Some of the children are orphaned and don’t know where they came from.

“Now we are working on getting a comprehensive data of all the people in the camps so that government and NGOs will be properly briefed on where and how to support them.”

The President said that IDPs, who were into farming before they were displaced by the Boko Haram, would be mobilised and assisted by the Ministry of Agriculture to return to their farms.

In her remarks, Power commended the Federal Government for always being the first and highest responder to the IDPs in various camps in the country.

She noted that the situation in the camps could be improved with more information on the number of people in the camps and their areas of need.

Power, who also spoke to State House correspondents on her mission to Nigeria, reassured that the U.S. would assist Nigeria in rescuing those abducted by the Boko Haram sect.

She said that already thousands of civilians had been rescued and returning to their respective liberated towns and villages.

“We will continue to deepen our partnership and more effective operations on the ground in pursuing the security, the economic and political issues all at once.

“I think the most successful thing was that thousands of civilians were rescued from the clutches of Boko Haram.

“We are determined to support Nigeria and other countries’ efforts to rescue more in the days and weeks ahead.”

Amb. Power, who plans to visit IDPs in Adamawa on Friday,  visited Nigerian refugees in Cameroun on Wednesday