FG Clarifies: No Plans to Relocate Northern IDPs to Southeast

The federal government has stated that it does not plan to relocate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from northern Nigeria to the South East.

Tijani Aliyu Ahmed, the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), made this announcement during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, October 9.

Tensions have arisen in Imo State following the NCFRMI team’s visit to the National Open University Centre in Nsu Ehime Mbano Local Government Area.

The visit was for the establishment of a skills acquisition center aimed at training individuals of concern and youth from the five southeastern states.

In response, several homes were set on fire by angry youths, including the residence of Senator Frank Ibezim, who facilitated and accompanied the team during their visit.

Speaking about the situation, Ahmed said: “We want to categorically state that the NCFRMI’s intervention in Imo State and the entire southeast has no political motives and it does not in any way intend to bring IDPs from the northern part of Nigeria to reside in the South East.

“The commission equally wants to state that no money was given to any person or persons for the purpose of utilising the facility as it belongs to the government.

“The proposed establishment of the skills acquisition centre is purely a humanitarian initiative designed to serve as a critical resource and provide training in areas such as vocational skills, entrepreneurship, and capacity building.

“These programmes will benefit displaced persons, returnee migrants, refugees, and other vulnerable groups, irrespective of their political affiliation, ethnicity, or religious inclination within the southeast region.

“We deeply regret the misrepresentation of information by the media that led to the unwarranted unrest and the destruction of properties by some unscrupulous elements.”

He noted that of the more than six million people facing displacement in Nigeria, a significant number live in the South East, where entire communities have been displaced due to ecological issues like erosion, landslides, and other forms of environmental degradation.

The federal commissioner mentioned that in 2024 alone, the commission facilitated the return of 4,550 stranded migrants, with at least 30 percent of them coming from the South East.