Army hands over 275 rescued women, children to NEMA

The 23 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army based in Yola, Adamawa State, has handed over 275 women and children rescued from insurgents in Sambisa forest to the National Emergency Management Agency for rehabilitation.

According to NEMA, the rescued persons comprised 69 women, 14 girls, and 26 male children aged between six and 12 years.

The agency, in a statement on Sunday, said 49 male children, aged five years; 48 female children, aged zero to five years; and 69 females, aged six to 12 years, were among the rescued persons, adding that 21 injured persons among the group were on admission at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

Receiving the rescued persons, the Director-General, NEMA, Sani Sidi, said the rescued women and children needed special attention and that the agency had made all the necessary arrangements with relevant stakeholders for trauma counseling.

Sidi, according to the statement, stated that NEMA had provided other forms of assistance to enable the rescued citizens to recover and return to normal life.

It said the rescued women and children were traumatised and malnourished by their ordeal, adding that they were immediately taken to Malkohi IDP camp in Yola for profiling and were provided with food, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, soap and detergents.

The statement quoted the Commander, 23 Armoured Brigade, Col. Aba Popoola, as saying that “on behalf of the Nigerian Army, I want to hand over 275 rescued women and children that we rescued from Sambisa forest to the National Emergency Management Agency for care and welfare.”