NEMA seeks more protection for civilian aid workers

Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency, Engineer Mustapha Maihaja, has called for more protection of humanitarian and aid workers intervening in conflict areas, especially in North-East Nigeria.

He made the call in Abuja during the celebration of the World Humanitarian Day, tagged “Not a target: protection of civilian.”

He decried the wave of conflicts in Nigeria, which had posed a great challenge to the people and government, leading to high number of internally displaced people in the country.

Maihaja said the increasing occurrence of the complexity of natural and human induced disasters, that were constantly being made worse  by climate change and global warming, had made the world a challenging place to live in.

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He observed that disasters and their attendant humanitarian consequences had created a recipe for crisis and insecurity in several countries in Africa.

He said that Nigeria had recorded incidents of attack starting with the 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja where 21 people were killed and over 60 wounded, adding that aside from this incident, many more attacks had been recorded.

“In March 2018, four humanitarian workers were killed, and others still missing in Ran, Borno State. And just last week, a NEMA staff providing support services for the internally displaced people was killed,” he revealed.

He noted that humanitarian workers should not be the target of any form of attack as they are working for humanity and are neutral and impartial, lamenting that since 2003, so many humanitarian and aid workers had been attacked and killed all over the world in the course of their duties.

Maihaja said, “the celebration of 2018 world Humanitarian Day, is to rally suport for humanitarian workers, a day to pay tribute to aid workers, it is a day to remember those that have lost their lives while providing humanitarian services to the vulnerable, a day to honour those that have survived various threats while helping those who are caught in the middle of disasters or violent conflicts”.

“I am, therefore, delighted that you have responded to our call today to mark the 2018 World Humanitarian Day.

“I also commend all the humanitarian actors and the military who have been working to ensure that insurgency in the North East is brought to an end,” he said.

He also thanked the United Nations for the undivided support to Nigeria at these critical times.