The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hajia Khadija Bukar-Ibrahim has urged foreign embassies in Nigeria to come to the aid of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country’s North east
Bukar-Ibrahim made the call when the Egyptian Embassy donated relief materials which included medical and food items to the displaced persons at the IDPs Camp in Durumi, FCT.
The Embassy had also facilitated the visit of some medical doctors from Egypt to offer medical support to the displaced persons suffering from one disease or the other.
The minister commended the Embassy for the initiative and by identifying with the need of the displaced people at the crucial moment of their lives.
“It is important that we play our parts; the gesture should be emulated by other countries seeing that anything done is not enough.
“Having seen what the Egyptian government has done today; they have supplied medicals, they have supplied medicines, and they have supplied items of food.
“They have also supplied so many things here today and doctors have flown in from Egypt to attend to the IDPs, so seeing that, I think others will emulate,”she stated.
According to her, the gesture will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of the displaced persons by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north east who sought refuge outside their home state.
She said that Nigeria was indeed touched by the humanitarian gesture and the fulfilment of a promise made during the Egypt Grand Imam’s visit to Nigeria in May.
“This is a show of fraternity in a time of need which we will not forget,”she said.
She advocated for the need to train the IDPs in some skills so as to have something to fallback to after life in the camp.
The Ambassador of Egypt to Nigeria, Ashraf Salama, said the gesture was at the instance of the Grand Imam of Egypt, Sheikh Dr Ahmed El-Tayeb, who was in Nigeria recently.
“It is in respect to the pledge he made during his recent visit to the IDP camp in Abuja. When he was here, he saw the reality of thing and how people are suffering.
“So he directed that a support of the nature be given to the IDPs,” he said.
The envoy, who pointed out that the gesture would also be replicated in other IDP camps in the FCT, said the exercise would take four days.
The Chairman of Durumi IDP Camp, Ibrahim Amodu, on behalf of the IDPs, thanked the Nigerian and Egyptian Governments for the support.