Refugees, IDPs undergo skills acquisition training in Lagos, Ogun

Hundreds of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Libya returnees have benefited from the skills acquisition programmes of the federal government in Lagos and Ogun states.

The programme, implemented by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), was aimed at empowering the beneficiaries to discourage them from begging.

The one-week training commenced on Monday and would end today.

The Southwest Zonal Coordinator of NCFRMI, Mrs Margaret Ukeogba, said 1,613 beneficiaries in 13 states were benefiting from the training.

Also, refugees from other countries like Cameroon, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Mali and Sierra Leone were part of the beneficiaries.

Ukeogba said the beneficiaries were undergoing training in over 20 skills and would be provided with starter packs and cash and to assist them put their training into practice.

The two training centres in Lagos are located at Yaba and Surulere, while there is another centre at Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, which is the Commission’s field office.

At the Yaba centre visited by our correspondent, there are 36 trainees undergoing training on photography and shoe cobbling.

A trainee, Roger Zher, a Cameroonian refugee and Fidelis Xavier from CAR, commended the federal government for the gesture. They both reside in Lagos.

Zher said the training had given him the assurance that all hope was not lost in Nigeria, while Xavier said that for the past 15 years that he had been in Nigeria and been moved