By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
At least 116,000 people have been displaced from Nigeria's northeast Yobe state because of Boko Haram insurgency, a coordinator for the country's emergency body said Monday.
"We have around 15,000 IDPs [internally displaced people] in the capital Damaturu and up to 1,000 in other communities in the state," Muhammed Kanar, coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told Anadolu Agency.
Kanar said the government has set up a presidential committee tasked with giving succor to the IDPs.
"Items worth N500m are being distributed to these people and efforts are ongoing to sustain support for these people," he said.
He added that the items were procured based on identified basic needs of the people.
"Proper arrangements have been made to ensure direct distribution to the target beneficiaries," Kanar said.
An estimated six million people have been displaced across the troubled region where the Boko Haram gangs have overrun a number of towns which have been declared 'Islamic caliphate.'
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