By Justina Asishana, Minna
- How we survived one week without food
- They never lacked food — NSEMA
For five months, the displaced people living in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Kuta town in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State have been living in Dr. Idris Ibrahim Primary School, a four-block school. It will has become a home to them.
These IDPs have said that they tired of remaining in the camp as they cite hunger, poor sanitary conditions, poor sleeping space and poor hygiene as reasons why they no longer want to stay in the camp.
When The Nation visited the camp on Monday and spoke to some of the displaced people, they disclosed that they had to stay a week without food from the government, adding that during that period, the adults had to rely heavily on the youth.
Zakari Galadima, who is one of the elders in the camp, said they had to stay a week without food before the government responded to their cry to bring food for them.
“We stayed a week without food in this camp last week. During this period, the youth were kind to us and helped us tremendously. Relying and leveraging on their strength, the youths helped to contribute to ensuring that there was food in the camp.”
Galadima said that the youth, during the trying period, engaged in menial jobs just to gather money for the people in the camp to feed.
“The youth went out to look for odd jobs; some of them went for mining, others took to construction work. All the proceeds they got, they joined everything together and brought food for the camp to feed.”
Fati Salihu also corroborated this, saying that the government was aware that they had no food as the chairman of Shiroro council told them that it was being sorted out.
“During this period, we had to help one another. Those who had saved little over some time shared it with others. We had to scramble and beg for food.”
We have been robbed of our social activities – Women in IDP camp
For the women in the Kuta IDP camp, there are no more social activities for them as they have been cut off from every social activity in the past five months. This is the reason they are asking the government to expedite action to enable them return to their homes.
According to Fati Salihu, staying in the camp has robbed her of her social activities, which she misses above everything else.
To every question she answered, Fati harped and returned to how she missed attending social activities, which she wouldn’t miss while she was in her homestead.
“My stay here has destabilised me. Comparing here to staying at home remains incomparable. Staying here has robbed me of my social activities. My enjoyment has been taken away from me. It is incomparable in terms of enjoyment.”
For Habiba Masuku, staying in the IDP camp meant no more weddings, naming or other ceremonies to attend and she misses these above anything else.
“While I was in my village, I attended weddings and naming ceremonies often but here, there is really nothing like that. Even the women who gave birth here are too discouraged to even have a naming ceremony. You rarely see any parties happening here.”
The inconveniences and sleeping arrangements are grossly inadequate – Men in IDP camp
For the men in the camp, their concern is the sleeping arrangements and inconveniences.
The stench from the toilets were so terrible that one could smell it from a distance. It was learnt that only the adults use the toilets and bathrooms, while the children defecate and bath openly.
The IDPs were seen sleeping in the classrooms on the bare floor with no mattresses in sight when The Nation visited the camp during the week.
According to Zakari Galadima, most often, about 50 persons sleep in a classroom without any mattress. “At least in a classroom, you cannot find less than 50 to 60 people. We are about 2,000 in this camp. We squeeze ourselves into the classes to sleep,” he said.
Speaking about the toilets and the hygienic situation in the camp, Zakari said: “The conveniences are grossly inadequate. You have gone there yourself, you can see it. We have no choice but to use it. But the government tried to build additional bathrooms for us but it is not still adequate.”
Speaking about the food, Aliyu Ibrahim said they just had to eat the food served them to keep body and soul together. “The food is just being taken to quench hunger. It is not the kind of food we are used to. It does not contain what is needed for a balanced diet.”
What we want – IDPs
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kuta have called on well-meaning individuals to speak to the government to provide adequate security that would enable them return to their villages.
They said they were tired of living in the camp for five months, stressing that they want to return to their villages.
“We want people to talk to the government so that government can take action with regards to insecurity because it seems our voices can no longer be heard”, Zakari Galadima said.
Aliyu added: “Government should provide security that would enable us return to our communities. Although there is security here, we prefer our homes. Please tell them to take us backhome”.
The IDPs are lying; they never spent a day without food – NSEMA
However, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) saddled with the responsibility of taking care of emergency situations told The Nation that the people were lying about staying without food for a week.
The Public Relations Officer of NSEMA, Hussein Ibrahim, said when the IDPs complained that their food was about to finish, the agency provided food for them the next day.
“No IDP camp in Niger State has enjoyed the privilege Kuta enjoys. The day they informed us that their food had finished, the next day, we took food to them.
“We also went there with a committee that was set up by the government to take their inventory so that the government will be able to provide what will enable them to relocate back to their places.”
Our Problem with the IDPs
Ibrahim explained that the IDPs have refused to leave the camp despite the fact that there are no more crises in their communities stressing that they are busy enjoying government food and do not want to leave the camp.
“The problem we are facing at Kuta is the problem of when a government opens a camp for a longer period of time. These people have been enjoying free food and because the planting season is gone, they do not have anything to do at home, that is why they prefer to stay in the camp than staying at home for the government to continue giving them food.
“There have been suggestions that we close the camp but the Governor, being someone who knows the pain they are going through asked us to let them remain in the camp even when the bandits’ problem is over. He feels staying in the camp would enable them to overcome the trauma they have been through.
“For more than a month now, the bandits’ activities have been reduced with the state government using both military and local vigilante. It is the governor that said we should allow them to stay so that their tension and trauma would reduce.
“Most of them are still in the camp just to have this free food. If you go there now, you will see a few people but when you take food there, a whole lot of them will come out to take the food and enjoy it.
“Government has set up a committee in place in conjunction with NSEMA to take them back to their communities and provide little stipends for them to go back to their places and ensure that they have vigilantes who will guard them until when things normalize in their village because some of them are still afraid.
On the poor sleeping arrangements
The NSEMA PRO explained that there were beddings when the IDPs arrived camp but pointed out that those who have left the camp to their villages, left with the beddings and utensils and no one made moves to stop them from taking these items with them.
“We provided them with beddings but each IDPs that come and return to their village return with these beddings. If a community is sacked by bandits today, they stay in the camp for some weeks and if their environment is stable, they go back and if they go back, they move with everything we provide them with and make us start afresh when another community comes. That has been the problem that we have been facing.
“These ones in camp now were not attacker by bandits, they fled because their neighboring communities were attacked but we are looking at how we will return them back to their villages and a committee is being constituted to that effect.”
The Youths of Shiroro local government area said that the relief materials given to IDPs Camp are not a privilege adding that It is a right by virtue of government’s failure to live up to its responsibility of protecting lives and properties.
The Youths blamed the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) for not proactive enough to know when the next supply is due until the stocked food is exhausted pointing that this is an indictment that the agency is not up to its billing.
When told of the PRO’s comment, one of the Youths who is one of the Co-Convener of Concerned Shiroro Youths, Bello Ibrahim said, “If Mr. Hussaini believes the Camp has been opened for too long, we challenge him to lead a convoy that will convey the displaced persons back to their communities, and we pledge to pay his allowances and support him with his upkeep logistics for a month in those communities.
“The ignorant Hussaini doesn’t know the history of Shiroro people. We are so hard working, particularly in food production that we export beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“Shiroro people gift food item to their visitors beyond what their horses and cars can convey.”
Speaking about the state of the camp, Ibrahim stated that none of the IDPs wish to remain in the camp as it is currently inhabitable for people to live in.
“Nobody desires to remain in that filthy and uninhabitable Camp. Our people are more than eager to return to their homes. Safe for circumstances, the IDPs Camp is at best habitable for domestic animals. ”
The Youths further berated the Governor for not going to visit the people in the camp adding that his action shows he is not feeling the pains of the people.
“The governor doesn’t know the pains our people are going through, he can only imagine it by virtue of reports he receives. The governor was practically on ground during electioneering to canvass for votes in Kuta. Shiroro Local Government was second to Rafi Local Government in terms of number of votes for Governor Abubakar Sani Bello.
“Unfortunately, despite our numerous outcries the governor has not found it worthy to personally visit and sympathize with the displaced. And we are by his actions compelled to ask, if Kuta IDPs Camp was a political Ward/Unit that will determine his victory at the polls, will he look the other way or send his deputy to campaign?
“It is the zenith of insensitivity and insincerity for anyone to sit in the comfort of his office and opine that insecurity is over.”
The youths have called on the state government to make the IDPs Camp more habitable by providing the necessary facilities.
However, the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) has said that because the State Government is concerned about the issue of insecurity affecting the people in Shiroro Local Government area just as in other areas of the state where bandits have been terrorising, the state government has make concerted efforts towards ensuring that the affected communities receive adequate care and attention.
He reiterated the commitment of the Agency to ameliorate their sufferings through all necessary means.
Leave a Reply