African Missions Global (AMG) will be organizing a Sports Festival among internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri beginning from Tuesday.
The festival which will commence at the Government College, Maiduguri, is an inaugural competition and has eight camps, Teacher’s Village, NYSC, CAN Centre, Dalori, Gubio, LCC Shuwari and stadium, all within Maiduguri metropolis competing for medals.
The IDPs from the competing camps will vie for medals in football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis and athletics, among others.
The event which kicks off with a football match between Bakasi IDP camp and CAN centre IDP camp is expected to end in March.
Speaking on the competition, the North-East Coordinator of African Missions Global, Dr Sesan Akinnawo said it was introduced to fend off youths from idleness and crimes.
He said: “Some of the youths are idle and because of idleness they are involved in crimes.
“In order to keep them busy and divert their energies into positive use, African Missions Global came up with encouraging sporting activities and competition.”
He noted that each of the eight camps has been given sporting equipment for table tennis, football, basketball and volleyball.
He said the materials can be used even after the competition, revealing that “we already have a sports coordinator in each of the camps to help them (IDPs) in the various sports.