The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IDPs camp

  • Fears over fate of IDPs votes in Benue

    Internally-Displaced Persons ( IDPs ) are being disenfranchised and mischievous politicians may be manipulating votes in IDP camps, civil society activists have alleged.

    Although INEC spokesman, Mr. Andya Terkaa, told The Nation that everything was being done to enable all displaced persons with PVC to vote, the Benue State Civil Society Coalition says it discovered arrangements were made for voting in only two out of the eight existing IDP camps.

    Since the bloody bandits’ attacks that reached a high point in January last year, thousands of displaced Benue indigenes have remained in IDP camps amidst unconfirmed reports that some individuals who dared to return home were being shot by unknown assailants.

    “We went to great lengths to sensitise IDPs to vote and more than twenty thousand of them collected PVC but only those in two camps are to vote,” the coalition’s Executive Director, Ms Helen Tegh Tegh told The Nation during an interaction at the office in Makurdi on Friday.

    “The two IDP camps where voting is really taking place are Anyin and Ugba camps, both of which are in Logo local government area.

    “For reasons of security, lack of transport fare and loss of homes during last year’s attacks, thousands of IDPs who were told to go and vote in their respective villages will not be able to use those votes,” Helen Tegh Tegh who is also the Executive Director of Community Link Initiatives stated.

    However, INEC asserted that there is no problem to worry about.

    According to INEC spokesman, Andya Terkaa, the commission did a profiling of ODPs and made provision for adequate number of voting points after realizing that most IDPs cannot go home to vote.

    “The profiling data was taken to Abuja for further analysis and approval and now, the commission is providing IDP Voting Points so that people will not be disenfranchised.

    “In normal polling units, there would be just one or two ballot boxes but several will be provided at the Voting Point, based on the profiling and if it means giving them fifteen ballot boxes, the commission will give them,” he explained.

  • Polio Immunization: Kano takes campaign to IDPs camp

    Kano State Government has extended its Immunization Plus Days IPDs against polio virus to Internally Displaced Persons IDPs Camp in the State to prevent the spread of the virus over the influx of IDPs from Boko Haram ravaged states.

    During the just concluded July round of the polio IPDs, Kano health workers stormed the IDPs camp in Hotoro and immunized hundreds of under five children for five consecutive days.

    The rationale behind the exercise was aimed at sustaining the unrelenting efforts of the state Government in its 38 months record of uninterrupted polio free status.

    Commenting on the development, the Primary Health Care Coordinator of Tarauni Local Government Council, Comrade Nura Haruna Rimigado, said the rationale behind the IDPs immunization was hinged on the influx of IDPs to the City.

    Rimigado described the move as a proactive measure to prevent any avoidable importation of the virus from the neibouring states, especially Borno State where the last polio case was discovered in Nigeria.

    He added that no fewer than 200 elegible IDPs children were immunized daily in the camp for five days, promising to maintain the gesture in the next round of the exercise.

    Besides the IDPs immunization, the Primary Health Care Coordinator also confirmed that the IPDs exercise was also extended to Markets and Motorparks in the area so as to ensuring that no child was left unimmunized during the period.

    He noted that the exercise recorded a huge success in the area as evident in the Council’s record surpassing the 72,760 targeted children for the immunization, saying the number of noncompliance were drastically reduced and those noncompliance cases identified were adequately resolved before the end of the five days exercise.

    He commended all stakeholders including religious and tradition leaders for their unrelenting efforts towards eradicating polio in Nigeria, urging them to sustain the tempo in order to achieve the desired goal.

  • Army denies attack on IDPs camp, soldiers

    Army denies attack on IDPs camp, soldiers

    The Army has dismissed  ‘misleading’ reports of a suicide bomb attack at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Pulka, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

    It described as ‘fictitious’, the purported killing of six soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents in an ambush on Damboa Road.

    The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, spoke in an interview with  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri.

    According to him, two bombers infiltrated Pulka on Monday; one was neutralised by troops but the other detonated his Improvised Explosive Device (IED), killing two persons and injuring two.

    A military vehicle stepped on an IED on Damboa Road on Sunday, and two soldiers died, he added.

    His words: “The incident in Pulka occurred inside the town and not at the IDPs camp. The troops neutralised one of the attackers even before causing harm to anyone, while the other bomber detonated the explosive, killing two persons and injuring two others.

    “There was no ambush by insurgents on our troops. The soldiers were involved in an IED explosion accident when their vehicle stepped on the device planted on the road.

    “Two soldiers were involved in the incident; there was no ambush, no ammunition carted away or six soldiers killed, as being erroneously reported. It is a misrepresentation of facts.”

    Nwachukwu added that the military authorities sympathised with the victims, even as he reiterated its commitment to the protection of life and property.

    He called on the people to be vigilant and provide information on suspicious activities in their communities.

  • REVEALED: Inside Benue IDPs camp

    REVEALED: Inside Benue IDPs camp

    RESIDENTS of Makurdi, Benue State capital, will not forget August 27, 2017, in a hurry. Indeed, many of them would wish the day had not come at all. Although they had been warned repeatedly of an impending flood disaster, not many took the warning seriously. Rather, they simply ignored the warnings and went about their normal businesses.

    Then came a downpour in Markurdi and surrounding communities at about 12.30 am on August 27, which lasted till about 4 am. The following night, the rain continued, starting at about the same hour it had started the previous day and continuing till early morning. The development spelt disaster for residents of Makurdi and its environs.

    Families went to bed only to wake up in the middle of the night to find themselves floating on water while their personal belongings were washed away. Vehicles were submerged while many people were rendered homeless. Traders lost goods worth millions of naira just as farmlands washed away to signal danger of imminent hunger in the land.

    The most affected areas included Idye, Achussah, Wurukum Market, Low Level, Wadata Rice, Gyado Villa and Welfare Quarters, all in Makurdi. According to available records with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), more than 100,000 persons were rendered homeless. Governor Samuel Ortom had to direct that the Makurdi International Market be temporarily converted into a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

    Those who moved into the camp and registered as IDPs are mostly women, children and the elderly as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers. The Nation investigation, however, revealed that for three days after they had moved into camps, the victims of the flood disaster had no food or water. There were also no mattresses, sleeping mats or toilets facilities.

    It was not until five days later that UNICEF moved in and dug a borehole in the camp to solve water problems while some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provided food for the IDPs pending when the state and federal governments would take over.

    The medical personnel of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) moved into the camp to take care of the people’s health needs. NAF deployed doctors, nurses and drugs for the treatment of common ailments.

    The Nation observed cases of open defecation in the camp, which was basically due to lack of toilet facilities, triggering fears of a cholera outbreak. But succour seemed to come the way of the IDPs when the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) intervened with seven trucks of relief materials.

    Benue-born music star, Tuface Idibia, also visited and donated relief materials through his foundation. The Wife of the Governor of Benue State, Dr Eunice Ortom, through her NGO, Eunice Spring of Life Foundation (ESLF), also donated a set of relief materials.

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, arrived Makurdi and inspected the affected areas as well as the IDPs camp to assess the level of the disaster. Osinbajo assured the victims that government would look into the possibility of dredging River Benue to serve as a permanent solution to the flooding problem.

    But despite what seems to look now like comfortable life in the IDPs camp, shortly after the Vice President and his team left, events took a new turn. The IDPs complained that officials no longer served them food as was the case before the visit of the Vice President.

    A nursing mother with two children, Mrs Juliana Unande, said since the Vice President left, “my children and I have not seen the rice officials used to give us to cook and eat.

    She said for two days, they had struggled to get cooked food only from NGOs and not from SEMA,” wondering what the bags of rice in their store were meant for when IDPs were dying of hunger.

    Another IDP in the camp, Jonathan Amah, who said he was a farmer and all his crops had been washed away, accused camp officials of diverting relief materials to the detriment of the victims. The allegations were, however, denied by a SEMA official, who pleaded anonymity, saying that no relief material was missing.

    The Nation gathered that even though water had taken over many homes, many of those affected were not keen to move into the camp for fear of the unknown.

    There were reported cases of thieves using canoes to break into the houses of those who relocated away from their homes to steal their property.

    Governor Samuel Ortom said government on its part would review the plot allocations and building plans in Makurdi. He also directed that any house built on water channels be pulled down.

    Investigation revealed that not all the people in the IDPs camp were affected by the flood. Some lazy and unscrupulous elements took advantage of the distribution of free food to take refuge in Makurdi International Market to feed fat. Security agencies, including vigilante groups, are said to be on hand to checkmate such undesirable elements.

  • Air strikes on Borno IDPs’ camp done in error —Defence Hqts

    Air strikes on Borno IDPs’ camp done in error —Defence Hqts

    The Defence Headquarters said yesterday that “lack of appropriate marking’’ caused the mistaken air strike by the Nigerian Air Force on Rann, Borno State , where a number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were killed in January .

    Rann is the  headquarters of Kala Balge Local Government Area.

    The Director Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche who briefed newsmen on  the outcome of the Board of Inquiry set up on the incident said that the bombing was carried out on the location because it was not “reflected in the operational map as a humanitarian base’’.

     “Hitherto, people were not expected to amass at that location,” he said.

    “The normal pattern for Boko Haram Terrorists to form up before attacking innocent civilians and troops is to amass.

    “Hence, it appeared as a place that could equally be used for enemy activities.

    “Thus, when mass movement was noticed through aerial satellite observation, it was taken for Boko Haram terrorists’ activity, which needed to be neutralised with speed,’’ Enenche said.

    He said that to avert future occurrence, “all locations where humanitarian activities take place in the theatre of operation would be marked appropriately for ground and aerial identification in line with international best practices.’’

    According to him, other recommendations by the board to avert such incident is the geographical and spatial coordinates of all areas of humanitarian activities within the theatre should be provided to the Theatre Command Headquarters.

    “There should be timely and mandatory exchange of information between stakeholders, for all activities in the theatre of operation,’’ the director of defence information said.

    On the clash between the army and police in Damaturu on April 11 in which one soldier and three policemen died, Enenche said the incident was caused by “avoidable misunderstanding from exchange of word.’’

    He said seven other policemen sustained injuries in that incident.

    He said the panel set up to look into the clash recommended that “strict centralised operational and administrative control should be exercised on all security agencies serving under Operation Lafiya Dole”.

    Enenche said that another recommendation of the panel was that “offenders in the incident are to be sanctioned appropriately to serve as deterrence to other personnel in the theatre of operation.’’

    “The outcome of all disciplinary actions should be communicated to other parties (Army and Police).’’

    Speaking on the clash between the Nigerian Navy and Police personnel in Calabar on May 30, the DDI also attributed the cause to “misunderstanding.’’

    He said while two policemen died in the incident, a naval rating was shot.

    The spokesman said that both the navy and the police would further investigate the clash to identify erring personnel for sanctions.

  • Scores die as Air Force jet bombs IDPs camp in error

    Scores die as Air Force jet bombs IDPs camp in error

    Medicins Sans Frontieres: 52 killed, 120 injured

    Aid workers, soldiers among victims

    A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet targeting Boko Haram members, yesterday killed scores and injured many more after firing into an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.
    The accidental strike occured in Rann, Kala/Bage Local Government Area in the northern part of Borno State.
    Many of the dead are charity workers and civilians.  Two soldiers also died.
    The military, which admitted the bombing error, and the government of Borno State, did not state the death toll, but charity organisation Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said 52 people were killed. It put the figure of the injured at 120.
    The Red Cross said six of its workers died.
    MSF said many of the casualties were believed to be displaced people who had fled from areas where Boko Haram had carried out attacks
    The charity’s director of operations, Jean-Clement Cabrol, said: “This large-scale attack on vulnerable people who have already fled from extreme violence is shocking and unacceptable.”
    MSF spokesman Etienne l’Hermitte urged the Nigerian authorities to facilitate evacuations of those injured, by land and air.
    “Our medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat wounded patients. We are in close contact with our teams, who are in shock following the event,” he said.
    Cabrol said: “The safety of civilians must be respected. We are urgently calling on all parties to ensure the facilitation of medical evacuations by air or road for survivors who are in need of emergency care.
    “MSF medical teams are currently providing first aid to 120 wounded patients in its facility in Rann. 50 people have so far been confirmed dead.  The organisation’s medical and surgical teams in the region are preparing to treat evacuated patients”.
    The Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-Gen. Lucky Irabor, told reporters that some of the humanitarian workers affected were from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and MSF.
    He added that many Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the air raid.
    Gen. Irabor said: “We got reports of a gathering of Boko Haram terrorists at Kala/Balge this morning (yesterday); and a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet conducted an aerial strike on the gatherings of insurgents.
    “This resulted into killings of several terrorists and civilians, including some (members of) staff of MSF and ICRC.
    He added: ”So far, it is a little bit disturbing; death has occurred.
    There are casualties; there were deaths and injuries.
    “But on the actual number of casualties, we would get back to you later. I am yet to get the number of casualties of civilians killed, but two soldiers were also affected.’
    ”I coordinated and I directed that the air component of the operation should go and address the problem.
    “Unfortunately, the strike was conducted but it turned out that other civilians were somewhere around the area and they were affected.
    “We are sending helicopters to evacuate those that were critically wounded, including our wounded soldiers,” Gen. Irabor said.
    “Today’s military air strikes are a little bit disturbing. It is disturbing enough for me. I cannot give you the exact level or number of casualties right now, as I address you on this unfortunate development at Kala/Balge.
    “We have sent helicopters to immediately evacuate the wounded soldiers and civilians to Maiduguri for treatment.
    “It is unfortunate and that is the reason why the war must come to an end; because the cost is certainly not good enough for everyone.”
    The Theatre Commander however noted that it would be premature to describe the incident as tactical error, stressing that “as far as the issue of local casualties are concerned, the military could not have deliberately targetted a civilian population. But the issue would be investigated to ascertain what went wrong,” he said.
    President Muhammadu Buhari expressed sadness and regret over the incident.
    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President condoled with families of the dead and wished the wounded divine succour, leading to full recovery.
    The President also sympathised with the Borno State government.
    He pledged the Federal Government’s help for the state government in attending to what he described as “this regrettable operational mistake”.
    He pleaded for calm and prayed God to grant repose to the souls of the dead.
    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima ordered medical response for the victims.
    He directed the  Ministry of Health to set up emergency units in all hospitals – the State Specialist Hospital, the Professor Umaru Shehu Hospital and General Muhammad Shuwa Memorial Hospital –  in readiness for the arrival of the victims, who will be flown to Maiduguri.
    A statement by his spokesman Isa Gusau said: “As at this evening, the International Committee
    of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has deployed a helicopter, which is on ground at Rann to begin evacuation of victims, starting with those with the most critical health conditions. The MSF (Doctors Without Borders) along with officials of the state government have been first responders. Governor Shettima particularly commends the MSF for its rapid response in providing first aide treatment to victims at the scene.
    “While Governor Shettima is working to ensure that ýall victims are evacuated as soon as possible, the State Commissioner for Health has mobilised medical doctors, nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists ýand other health officials in all hospitals owned by Borno State
    Government while ambulances have also been deployed. The medical experts are currently on standby with emergency consumables set for treatment of victims as soon as they arrive in Maiduguri.
    “Casualty figures are yet to be ascertained but from information available to the Governor, there are records of deaths with many persons injured. The Governor’s heart is with families of all those affected and urges citizens to pray for the repose of the souls of those dead and the speedy recovery of the injured.
    “Governor Shettima looks forward to formal communication from the military to ascertain what happened and would brief the press should there be the need to do so. For now, all focus should be on the evacuation of victims and the provision of emergency medical services
    to them with the hope that they quickly recover,” the statement said.
    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) described as “unfortunate” and “highly regrettable” the accidental bombing.
    In a statement by its Director, Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, the NAF said it would update the public after its investigations.
    Famuyiwa said: “The NAF is saddened by today’s accidental air strike by its fighter jet at Rann in Kala Balge area of Borno State in which some innocent lives were lost. While available information is sketchy, the Theatre Commander OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE is taking appropriate steps to avail us with details of the incident.
    “The loss occasioned by this unfortunate incident is deeply regretted. The NAF commiserates with those affected and their families and would update the public as soon as detailed facts emerge from the investigation.”

  • IDPs camp records 22 marriages, 81 deliveries in 20 months

    IDPs camp records 22 marriages, 81 deliveries in 20 months

    NO fewer than 22 marriage contracts were sealed and 81 babies delivered in the past 20 months at the Pompomari Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) camp in Damaturu,  Executive Secretary, Yobe Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Musa Jidawa , has disclosed.
    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu yesterday that the camp, established in March 2015 for IDPs from villages in Gujba Local Government Area displaced by insurgents, also recorded 18 deaths during the period under review.
    Jidawa, who is also the Secretary of the State Committee on Resettlement and Rehabilitation of IDPs, said the camp started with 4,211 IDPs but now hosts about 2,000 persons.
    According to him, his agency also circumcised boys at the camp that are due for circumcision.
    “The agency had within this period, circumcised 76 boys whose age range between five and 11years in an organised ceremony in accordance with their customs and tradition, to give them a cultural sense of belonging.
    “The celebrants were each provided with new sets of clothes, one live chicken and a blanket as is the practice in their ancestral communities,” he said.
    The Secretary explained that the circumcision was carried out so that boys of the age group did not outgrow the period of getting circumcised.
    He said another camp, the Bukar Ali IDP camp, was closed down following requests by the IDPs to return home as security had improved in their communities.

  • Muslim women condemn rape at IDPs camp

    Muslim women condemn rape at IDPs camp

    A group, the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), yesterday expressed concerned over the rising cases of sexual abuse.

     FOMWAN urged all tiers of government to devise ways to curb the abuse.

    At a press conference at the University of Lagos to announce the start of the association’s yearly National Conference, its National Amirah (President), Hajia Amina Omoti, condemned reports of sexual abuse in  Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

    Hajia Omoti wondered why the security officers who should protect the displaced persons turned some of them to sex slave.

    The culprits, she said, must be brought to book.

    She praised President Muhammadu Buhari for directing the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the matter.

    Hajia Omoti urged the Federal Government to urgently fix the economy to alleviate the suffering of the people.

    “There is a lot of hunger, poverty and anger in the land. Women, many of whom have become bread winners in their homes are worst hit,” she said.

    FOMWAN praised the government on the release of 21 of the abducted Chibok girls, urging it to ensure the release of others.

    It urged the government to ensure the rehabilitation of the girls, their education and wellbeing.

  • Boko Haram: Kids battle malnutrition in IDPs camp

    Boko Haram: Kids battle malnutrition in IDPs camp

    Children who escaped the terror of Boko Haram are now facing starvation in Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps.

    The youngsters, some of them only infants, are being treated in a feeding centre run by Doctors Without Borders in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, according to a report by The Mail of London.

    Up to one in four of the youngsters in the 110-bed centre are dying, Doctors Without Borders spokeswoman Shaista Aziz was quoted by the newspaper in a report published yesterday.

    Most of the children were brought from the IDPs camps, she added.

    Parents living in the camps complain that there is not enough food, and when it does arrive, it is insubstantial.

    Dr Natalie Roberts, deputy emergency desk manager for the medical aid group, said the feeding programme in Maiduguri “has quadrupled in size in the last weeks, but each time it expands it becomes rapidly full’.

    In one camp, Muna Garage, 20 children under the age of five died in a single week.

    At Farm Centre Camp, on Maiduguri’s outskirts, residents said they had received no food in more than one month.

    They and displaced persons at other camps said that when they do get meals, it consists only of rice and beans. They get one shovelful a day – literally delivered from a shovel – whether a household has six people or 12, they said.

     

  • Female suicide bombers blast 56 to death in IDPs camp

    Female suicide bombers blast 56 to death in IDPs camp

    Two female suicide bombers have blown themselves up in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Borno State, killing no fewer than 56 people.

    Health and rescue officials, who confirmed Tuesday’s bombings, said 78 people were taken away injured from the Dikwa IDPs camp. Dikwa is 85 kilometres outside Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    There are about 50,000 IDPs in the camp, it was learnt.

    Officials blamed Boko Haram for the bombings which, was not known about until yesterday because of the disruption to telephone services.

    The governor of neighboring Cameroon’s Far North province said two suicide bombers believed to have come from Nigeria also yesterday killed 10 people and injured 40 in a border village.