Cross River Hosts 50,000 Cameroonian Refugees

November 02, (THEWILL) – The United Nations High Commission For Refugees (UNHCR),has disclosed that over 50,000 Cameroonian refugees are presently residing in Cross River State.

This, he said excludes the over 35,000 others, who are spread across the region.

Mr Tesfaye Bekele, Head of UNHCR, sub-office, in Ogoja local government area, disclosed this in Calabar while presenting two vehicles to the state government.

Bekele also donated 200 vaccine carrier boxes to complement the initial 50 distributed directly to primary healthcare centres in the state.

“As we speak, we have over 85,000 refugees hosted across this region and over 50,000 of them are in Cross River State and a majority of them are in Ogoja.

“These items are a token to express our appreciation and gratitude for the great support the UNHCR has been getting from the Cross River State government since the Cameroonian refugees crossed into Nigeria.

“The ambulances are to be used for emergency health services across the state, the pick up is at the request of the Ogoja local government for the enhancement of security”, he said.

He added that the donation of the vaccine carrier boxes was to support the state vaccination programme.

I feel very honoured to donate one ambulance, pick up and medicine carriers to support the Cross River government.

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Responding, Gov. Ayade, who received the donation on behalf of the state, thanked UNHCR for their care and services rendered to the refugees over the years.

Ayade solicited the support of UNHCR in the area of food supply, adding that the refugee population was increasing daily.

Also Speaking, Dr Janet Ekpenyong, Director General of Cross River Primary Healthcare Agency, said that the vehicles are coming at a time the state is working on an ambulance policy.

She added that the donation will help in accessing hard-to-reach areas in the state for healthcare delivery.