The Chairman of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Jibia Camp, Katsina State, Malam Salisu Sa’adu, said the victims are suffering from hunger, starvation and death in the camp.

Salisu said this in a chat with reporters in Jibia yesterday.

He said the IDPs, camped in Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS) Jibia are mainly from Kwari, Zango, Shimfida, Tsauni, Far Faru, Tsanbe, and Gurbin Magarya villages of Jibia Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, the food that is provided to the refugees is not enough; hence, they are suffering from starvation, hunger and death.

He said there was not enough food for them, stressing that there were only two policemen guarding the camp.

“Most of us (IDPs) are sleeping without mosquito nets and blankets. We thank Medicines San Frontier (Doctors without Borders), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that supplied drugs to us always at the camp.

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“In view of the hardship we are passing through, 15 of us died, while 35 women gave birth under forced labour,” he said.

Salisu appealed to the state government to take steps to relocate them to their villages to enable them to go to their farms and get what to feed their families before the end of the rainy season.

“We are now almost three months here. We can’t continue like this; we really want to go back to our villages and look for what to eat with our families.

“So, we appeal to the government to take urgent measures and relocate us to our various ancestral homes,” he said.

When contacted, the Chairman of Jibia Local Government Area, Alhaji Bashir Mai-tan, said the government was trying its best in feeding the refugees in the camp.

Mai-tan said, apart from that, the local government released N200, 000 daily for some of their needs.

Maitan said he had been having sleepless nights to ensure peace and security in the area, as well as payment of ransom to secure the release of people from bandits.He said currently over 1,500 of his people were still bandits hostage, advising that the government alone could not fight banditry.

During a visit to the camp, it was observed that some of the IDPs looked worried, hungry and in tears.