The Director-General, National Emergency Agency, Alhaji Sani Sidi, has expressed dissatisfaction with deportation of over 12,000 Nigerians by the Cameroonian government, regretting that hasty deportation of the country’s nationals had subjected them to inhuman conditions.
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Sidi expressed his displeasure in a chat with newsmen in Yola after his visit to Mubi over the weekend to assess the condition of the deportees, a majority of whom are IDPs.
Sidi was accompanied by the deputy Governor of Borno Ibrahim Zanna, who conveyed the readiness of the Borno state government to evacuate the IDPs back to Maiduguri.
The NEMA boss, who expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of the IDPs, blamed the condition on the hasty manner in which their Cameroonian counterpart repatriated the IDPs, without given them the any prior notice of their action. The result of which he said has subjected many of the returnees to inhuman conditions that “I am not happy about”.
According to him, “Frankly speaking I am not happy with what we met in Mubi. These are people who were hastily repatriated with any prior notice. Therefore I am not happy with this development but I want to assure you that once the security agencies conclude with the screening they will be evacuated into the camps already designated to receive them.”
Obviously, disappointed by the actions of the Cameroonian authorities, Sidi who could not hide his exasperation over the mistreatment being meted out to Nigerians took the UNHCR officials to task on the matter.
He complained to the UNHCR officials that were Nigeria the one perpetrating the same actions of the Cameroonian, the organisation would have descended had on the country, yet it has chosen to keep mum over the actions of the Cameroonian government.
Before leaving Yola yesterday the DG NEMA said the Nigeria government would continue to fend for all returnees and all the IDPs in its camps located in the North East.