A woman walks past burnt houses in the aftermath of what Nigerian authorities said was heavy fighting between security forces and Islamist militants in Baga, a fishing town on the shores of Lake Chad, adjacent to the Chadian border, April 21, 2013. The bloody gun battle against Islamist insurgents in Nigeria last week involved forces from neighbouring Chad and Niger, officials said on Tuesday, as West African countries increasingly view jihadist groups as a cross-border threat. There was no confirmation of the death toll from Friday’s fighting, but a Nigerian military source said dozens may have died, many of them civilians. The Nigerian Red Cross said it was checking reports from locals that 187 people had died, but had still not obtained security clearance to go into Baga. Picture taken April 21, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (NIGERIA – Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) – RTXZ0PR

The Federal Government has expended over N1.5 billion on the provision of relief materials to people displaced by activities of insurgents in three states in Northern Nigeria, an official said on Saturday.

Muhammed Kanar, the Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, North-East Zone, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the materials were distributed by the committee inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said that the agency had registered thousands of Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, affected by activities of insurgents in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

The coordinator said that the agency and other appropriate ministries had met over displaced Nigerians who fled to Cameroon, Niger and Chad Republic, with a view to render some assistance to them.

He said that the Federal Government had ordered reconstruction of the Chibok Secondary School in Borno State, where over 200 female students were abducted by insurgents in April.

Mr. Kanar said that the reconstruction of the school was part of the government’s effort to repair areas affected by insurgency attacks in the North-East region.

“The Federal Government has sent a powerful experts committee to study how Chibok Girls Secondary School will be reconstructed.

“And beside that, Government has spent over N1.5 billion on relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons affected by insurgent attacks in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states,’’ the NEMA official said.

He advised IDPs who have not registered with the agency to go to the nearest camp and register in order to receive relief materials.

(NAN)