In Maiduguri, capital of the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno, little things make a big difference. When the first phase of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) base camp, known as 'Red Roof' was completed in mid-January, the first question humanitarians asked as they moved in was: “Is there Internet here?” Internet services from local providers are not always reliable which can impact the work of the response community on the ground. 

The Emergency Telecommunications Sector team had everything under control. As soon as the connectivity equipment from ETC member Ericsson Response arrived in Maiduguri, Serge Seide, ETS IT specialist, started installing the access points to provide Internet services across the camp.

But something important was still needed to get the Internet. ETC member Government of Luxembourg deployed an emergency.lu satellite kit to the ETS operation, providing connectivity services for six months. This equipment travelled over 6,000 km and finally arrived in Maiduguri on 11 February.

And after a few hours of hard work, the ETS team successfully completed the installation of the satellite kit and the Internet was born in Maiduguri. Less than three hours after being operational, over 20 humanitarians were already using the ETS Internet services at the camp. These services allow the response community to meet the urgent humanitarian needs in North-East Nigeria better and faster.  

Photos: Ekue Ayih, Krste Ropajkov, Erika Iglesias

Story: Erika Iglesias, WFP IT Emergency Preparedness and Response