The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday said that it would continue to use peace advocacy, which is part of the agency’s disaster- prevention strategy, to check communal clashes in the South-East .
TBI Africa said the Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Mr Fred Anusim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu that the agency was focusing on prevention to reduce its intervention in communal-crisis related issues.
Anusim said that the agency had been paying advocacy and sensitisation visits to governors in the zone, especially Gov. David Umahi, to ensure that communal crisis did not escalate in any state in the zone.
According to him, “You spend more when you respond to disasters but you spend less when you prevent a disaster.
“Thus, you strive to reduce the impact of such disasters on a community from the outset.
“So, we are trying to let government, especially governors, know the impact of disasters, such as natural and man-made ones, on their people.
“Unfortunately, Ebonyi, among the five states in the South-East, is the only state with communal clashes and of recent most of NEMA’s intervention and money have been going to Ebonyi.
“We have noticed that the state usually has crisis arising from inter and intra communal land disputes and recently boundary issues with Cross River and Benue states.
“We have gone on an advocacy visit to Umahi for him to see how he can liaise with his co-governors to see that these incidents are reduced and settled amicably,” Anusim said:
He said that the people involved should also be made to know the dangers and implication of these disputes and destructions.
The NEMA zonal coordinator further said that the agency was shocked to see the size of Internally Displaced Persons when it visited Ebonyi about two weeks ago.
He said: “Our people and governments must do something to reduce the effects of these communal crisis on the people.
“It usually escalates food shortage, poverty and hardship among the people of the state, especially the communities involved.’’
Anusim said that the agency had issued flood warnings directly to the communities in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, predicted by NIMET to suffer flooding this year.
“We issued flood warning and made visits to seven council areas in Anambra, five in Enugu state and four in Ebonyi.
“We have told them to move to high-land areas, harvest their crops on time and ensure they place their property on high stands in their homes,’’ he said.
