The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said yesterday, five babies were delivered at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp at Kalambaina, Sokoto State, last weekend.
As stated by NEMA Assistant Head for Sokoto Zonal Operations Office, Mr Thickman Tanimu, they are three girls and two boys.
He said two were delivered on May 7, on transit to Sokoto; two on May 8 and one on May 9. The mothers and children were hale and hearty, he also stated.
Tanimu said 2,000 IDPs, including the new babies, were evacuated by the agency from Geidam in Yobe State on Wednesday, May 6, to Sokoto State.
He said nearly 80 per cent of the affected people were from Kebbi State while the others were from Sokoto State.
Taminu said: “They were earlier displaced due to insurgent activities in Doron-Baga in Borno State and they fled to Gegeme in Difa State, Niger Republic, as refugees.
“However, they were also unfortunately deported back to Geidam in Yobe State, after an insurgent attack at their IDPs camp in Niger Republic.
“It was from Geidam that the IDPs were screened by NEMA and security agencies, and the agency evacuated them to Sokoto.”
He said the affected persons from Sokoto State had almost been evacuated by the state government to their towns and villages in the 23 local government areas.
Tanimu regretted that the IDPs from Kebbi State were reportedly “disowned” by Governor Saidu Dakingari.
He was quoted as saying that the IDPs from his state were not indigenes of the state and might be insurgents.
The governor had also reportedly set up a committee to screen the IDPs from the state at the Sokoto State camp before evacuating them.