The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it has
constituted a committee to investigate allegations of attempted rape and child
trafficking in some Internally displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the
North-East.
A statement signed by Mr Sani Datti, NEMA's Senior
Information Officer, and made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, said
that the move was in reaction to an online publication entitled ``Grim Tales of
Rape, Child Trafficking in IDP camps’’.
According to the statement, the report was written by one
International Centre for Investigating Reporting (icirnigeria.org), and
republished by Premium Times, also an online based news organisation.
It stated that Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi, the NEMA
Director-General, had met with stakeholders in Abuja on Monday during which the
comitteel was set up.
According to the statement, the terms of reference of the
panel which two weeks to conclude its investigations, include verification of
the allegations by the centre.
It is also expected to interact with all stakeholders, hold
town hall meetings in all the camps mentioned in the report, interacting with
the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, NEMA North-East Zonal office,
the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMAs), State Security Services (SSS),
Red Cross, Arm, and the Police, among others.
Membership of the committee comprise representatives of the
State Security Service, the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Red Cross Society and
Office of the National Security Adviser.
Other members from the National Human Rights Commission,
National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons, Journalists against
Disaster, NEMA, SEMAs in Borno, Adamawa, and Gombe, Civil Defense Corps and the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
According to the statement, the NEMA director-general urged
the committee headed by Hajiya Bilkisu Abdullah, a Deputy Director with SSS, to
work with utmost transparency and honesty.
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