Residents of Ogun villages who fled to the Republic of Benin in the wake of attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen have countered the claim of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they have returned to their communities, Kunle Akinrinade reports.
Displaced residents of the Yewa area of Ogun State who are currently refugees in the neighbouring Benin Republic have faulted the claim by the Federal Government that they have returned to Nigeria.
The displaced persons from Asa, Ibeku, Agbon-Ojodu, Moro, Oja Odan, Ibeku, Oha, Igbooro, Isuku, Igbo-Oko, Iyana MetaIselu, Ohunbe and other villages in Yewa North and Imeko-Afon local government areas of Ogun State had abandoned their communities and took refuge in neighbouring Benin Republic, following incessant attacks by armed herdsmen.
In a report published by The Nation on March 13, 2021, the embattled residents, who fled their villages after they were attacked by rampaging Fulani herdsmen who killed several persons and razed buildings, cried out to the authorities to relocate them back to Nigeria and provide them with adequate security.
The distraught residents are in refugee camps in Egelu, Pobe and other communities in Benin Republic which recently enacted laws banning Fulani herdsmen from entering the country to graze.
The refugees described their stay at IDP camps in the francophone state as uncomfortable.
The report had discountenanced the position of the Ogun State Government that there were no refugees from Yewa communities in Benin Republic.
The Nation had also earlier reported that no fewer than 28 villagers were killed within one week in February this year by armed Fulani herdsmen.
The Senate had on Wednesday last week passed a resolution asking the Federal Government to direct officials of the National Emergency Management Agency and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to return the refugees to the country.
The resolution was sequel to a point of order raised by the senator representing Ogun West, Tolu Odebiyi.
The Federal Government however reportedly said on Tuesday that there were no Ogun refugees in the Benin Republic.
The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Benin Republic, who visited the communities where the people were taking shelter in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps were told that they had returned to their communities in Nigeria.
The Director of Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bolaji Akinremi, said no Nigerian refugee was found in Benin Republic.
He said: “Our mission visited the villages mentioned and met with rulers but was told that those who came as a result of the crisis had returned after a few days. So, no Nigerian refugee was found in the Benin Republic.
“In line with the various media reports and the reported National Assembly directive for NEMA to bring them back home, the MFA will be willing to support as appropriate.”
We’ve not returned to Nigeria – Refugees
The government’s response turned out not to be true as the refugees who spoke with The Nation on Thursday said they were still at the IDP camps in Benin Republic.
Foluke Kambi, who went into forced labour and was delivered of a baby boy shortly after she arrived in Egelu, said that she and other refugees were still in the community.
She said: “We have not returned to our villages in Nigeria. We don’t even have homes anymore because our houses have been razed by Fulani herdsmen. So where do we return to? Like thousands of other refugees, we have been surviving on charity and the little my husband makes from working as a farm labourer here.
“Although the Beninese authorities took care of my bill at the hospital where I was delivered of my baby, they have stopped giving us food items at the camp except for the little we received from humanitarian bodies.”
Another refugee, Madam Ewunmi, said she was one of the people on the ground when the diplomatic officials visited the camp at Egelu.
Ewunmi said: “They met some of us and the monarch of this community. Some had gone out to work as farm labourers and others to do menial jobs to survive.
‘They are lying because our communities in Nigeria are still not safe for us to return to. Our houses and farmlands had been burnt by armed herders.”
Speaking with our correspondent, one of the displaced Nigerians in Gbogo, a community in the francophone country, Alhaji Abubakar Bakare a.k.a. Larondo said he was yet to return to Nigeria.
Bakare, who fled with about 50 members of his family after his houses were razed in the wake of reprisals, said he was still hoping that the government would intervene and bring him and other refugees back to Nigeria.
He said: “Is it possible to be in two countries at the same time? I am still in Gbogo in Benin Republic. The situation here is pathetic because we barely eat and have no clothes to change into.
“If our government in Nigeria is denying our existence here, that means we are trapped and hopeless here.
“The Embassy officials did not visit us at Gbogo. They might have been to Egelu but we did not see them here. So how come they arrived at the conclusion that we had returned to our communities in the Yewa area of Nigeria?
“However, I want to once again appeal to authorities in Nigeria to reconsider our plight and come to our rescue.’’
Our correspondent gathered that about four officials of the Nigeria Embassy had visited Egelu community in Benin Republic where the refugees were taking shelter at an IDP camp.
The officials comprising three men and a woman, who visited the IDP camp on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, met some of the refugees and the monarch of Egelu, Ona Adio AbdulWahab, who explained to the team that other refugees had gone out in search of work to feed their families.
It was learnt that the team comprising the Head of Chancery, Mr. James Dug Pam; Ms. Bunmi Olanusi and Mr. Ewerinde and one other male staff of the embassy, spoke with the refugees and were conducted round the camp.
‘’It is quite an irony and unfortunate that the Nigerian government was misled by the same officials of the Nigeria Embassy staff here in the Benin Republic that they didn’t see any Nigerian refugee in our community, Egelu.
“On the contrary, they did not only meet some of the refugees, they indeed spoke with them and even interacted with the aged women among the displaced Nigerians to know how they were coping at the IDP camp,” said a Beninese community leader, Alimi Gbadamousi.
Michael Kouyejo, an indigene of Egelu, also said: “Nigerian refugees are still here with us. We gave them food and clothes when they flooded our community and our government built a camp for them here. Some of them do menial jobs to survive while many others stay back at the camp.”
Also speaking with our correspondent, the traditional ruler of Egelu, Oba Adio AbdulWahab said that it was not true that the officials of the Nigerian Embassy in the Benin Republic who visited his domain did not meet refugees at the IDP camp in the community.
Disclosing what transpired during the visit, the monarch said the team met him in his palace and had interactions with some of the refugees and were taken round the camp for assessment.
Oba AbdulWahab said: “Those who came to my community in Egelu in Benin Republic from Yewa villages in Ogun State, Nigeria are still here.
“If they are coming to see the refugees, we have to be informed earlier otherwise some of them would have gone to the farm to work and get some food to eat.
“They usually leave in the morning and return around 7 pm on a daily basis.
‘’Don’t forget that they told you when you came here recently that their houses at their villages in Nigeria had been razed by Fulani herdsmen who also killed them.
‘’I am surprised that the officials from Nigerian Embassy claimed they did not meet refugees when they visited my community penultimate Tuesday.
“They were in this community between 12 and 1 pm and they met some of the refugees who explained to them that some of them had gone to work at farms and other places in order to get money and food to eat.
‘’They freely interacted with the refugees and were conducted round the makeshift IDP camp before they left. So how come they now lied to your government that they did not meet any refugees at the camp?
‘’I even explained to them that the people resorted to working because our government here in Benin Republic has discontinued giving them food or supplies to take care of themselves at the camp.
‘’What the displaced Nigerians do now is to work as labourers on farmlands while the women and children also work as maids for canteen owners and other residents. They would leave the camp early in the morning and return around 7 pm.
“I told the officials from the Embassy that the refugees were more than they met, and that if they want to see the entire population, they have to notify me and I would, in turn, ask all of them to wait.
“That has been the arrangement whenever humanitarian organisations want to distribute items at the camp. It is unfortunate that the Nigerian diplomatic staff misled your government to believe that the refugees had returned to Nigeria. That is far from the truth.’’
Speaking with The Nation, the Iselu of Iseluland, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, who is the traditional ruler overseeing some of the villages in Yewa North area of Ogun State, said it is not true that the displaced villagers had returned to their communities.
“They have not returned and that is a fact. The government has been misled by the diplomatic staff who purportedly visited the IDP camp in the Benin Republic.
‘’However, if the government said the refugees had left their camps in Benin Republic and returned to their villages in Nigeria and we still can’t find them, that means my people are missing, and it is the duty of the government to find them for me and bring them safely to Nigeria,’’ Oba Akinyemi added.
Leave a Reply