I don’t know where my father, stepmother, seven siblings are – Victim
Like an innocuous flame, it started and no one paid attention. Then, it became a flickering flame, yet no one took them seriously. Today, the flickering flame has become a wild fire, a hydra-headed monster threatening to squeeze the very life out of Nigerians.
From a band of ragtag army, the Jama’atul Ahlus Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihad sect, otherwise known as Boko Haram insurgents, have transformed to this sophisticated, well organised terror group, killing, maiming and destroying everything on their path like a rabid dog that does not recognise its owner.
They have rendered thousands homeless and sent thousands more to early grave. In our usual quest to seek a better life for the people by making their voices heard in the right circles, Vanguard visited the victims of the insurgency in their camps in Yola and its environs in Adamawa State and they shared their heart-rending stories, crying out for help:
By Ebele Orakpo
Victim at the camp
THE first port of call was the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Damare Village, Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State where over 5,000 internally-displaced persons, IDPs, are camped. Many came from Michika, Madagali, Gulak and Bazza in Adamawa State as well as Bama and Gwoza in Borno State. Michika (with a population varying between 150,000 and 375,000, was seized by Boko Haram on September 7, 2014 while Madagali fell into their hands on September 1; Gulak was seized on September 1; Bama was seized on September 2 while Gwoza with a population of 276,312 according to the 2006 census, was captured on August 11.
Speaking with Vanguard, Mallam Haruna Hamman Furo, Permanent Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, ADSEMA said so far, they have been able to manage the IDPs, providing them with the basic necessities like shelter, food, relief materials, medical care and also education.
On the number of IDPs in the camp: “If we give you an exact number today, it may be different tomorrow because more and more displaced people are coming; some came yesterday (October 20), they have not been able to rest and you know because of the time it took them. We have identified those IDPs that have stayed on the Cameroun Mountains for long so when they come in, the first thing is to get them healthy. Many of the children are not in class because they are fatigued so we want to observe them for a week and when they pick up, we bring them to school but I want to assure you that the number is growing by the day,” he said. This assertion was observed to be true as more displaced people kept arriving.
From the victims:
For Mrs Fidelia Joseph, the Camp’s women leader and a native of Bazza in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, life will never be the same again. She said: “On that fateful Sunday, we were in the church when they called us and told us that there was fighting in town and before we could come out, the situation had worsened so we had to run from church without getting home to take anything. We left town and God helped us to get to Yola and to the camp.”
Life in camp: “Honestly, life in camp has not been bad. The only problem was the cholera outbreak that we experienced a few days ago but thank God, everything is under control now. In terms of food, toiletries etc., we do not lack all these and we are grateful. Our cry now is that government should have compassion on us and ensure an end to this crisis so that everyone can go back home. We lost many of our men and relations to this crisis.
Hiding in the mountains
Some were shot, some slaughtered, and some we don’t know where they are. As we speak, I don’t know where my father, stepmother and seven siblings are. I have gone to town to search for them without success so whether they are alive or dead, we do not know, or whether they are hiding in the mountains or under the rocks, only God knows. My children are here, but they killed my husband,” she said, sadness written all over her although she tried to put up a cheerful facade.
Recounting his ordeal, Alhaji Modu, male leader from Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State said: “On August 5 around 4.30pm, we were sitting in the house with my friends and we saw some people coming towards us with guns. As they started shooting, we ran to our houses. In the morning, they continued searching people’s houses, slaughtering some and shooting some. I climbed my ceiling where I spent seven days. On the 8th day, around 1:00am, I came down from the ceiling and started running out of town. I trekked 26 km from Gwoza to Madagali. Later, the insurgents advanced to Madagali so from Madagali, we ran to Yola NYSC camp for refuge. Some of our attackers appeared like soldiers but they were not in complete army uniform and some were dressed in long shirts and covered their heads.
“In fact, since we found ourselves in this camp, we have had no problem about feeding, accommodation or medical care. Security is also tight, the security agents are performing their duties but the challenge is that we are traumatised. Personally, up till date, I have not seen my seven children and wife and I don’t know where they are since I left them at home. We know that government is doing their best but still, they have to do more to make sure that we go back to our homes to be reunited with our families. That is our prayer now. Whatever we are given here, we cannot enjoy because we are not with our families.”
Jumai Hamidu who had arrived the previous day had this to say: “I am from Madagali. We left Madagali and climbed the hill into Cameroon. We spent three days trekking to get to the mountain. Day and night, we and our children were trekking. Initially, we were 35 in number when we left our home town but only 21 made it to this place. Some died on the way; some were too weak to continue. Cameroonian soldiers brought us to Nigeria. We got to Mubi and from Mubi, we came to Yola. Feeding was really difficult. We survived on pancakes, water and guava. The children succumbed to many diseases due to malnourishment. One of them is right now at the Federal Medical Centre Yola due to anaemia.”
Victims at the camp
Education: To keep the children busy and to help them continue their education, Furo said the camp authorities had to improvise classrooms and get volunteer teachers to teach the primary and secondary school children. “We started with just 20 and within a short period, we were able to have a full primary wing and secondary wing. We introduced the school part to keep the children busy and help them continue their education while here. We are inviting professionals in the education sector to take over. For now, we are using IDP teachers as volunteer teachers. We also have volunteer lecturers from the American University of Nigeria (AUN) and other higher institutions in the state who come in to render their services. That was how we started.”
Inadequate teaching/learning materials: The acting principal of the school, Mr. Philip Sati Jona when asked how they were coping in the face of daunting challenges, he said: “Tt has not been easy due to their backgrounds and the kind of condition they have found themselves in.
Improvised blackboards
Psychologically, they are down and trying to bring them up is something else. We don’t have sufficient materials for learning; we improvised blackboards just to make sure that the children are learning in spite of the condition they found themselves in. That is why we are trying to give them the best we can. No exercise books, the sitting arrangement is nothing to write home about; the learning atmosphere is not conducive so I am calling on the general public and government to come to the aid of these children, give them the needed help so that they will have the right education just like any other Nigerian child.”
The orphans: “We took about eight of the children to the orphanage. We just enrolled them in school, yesterday, at the orphanage and we are trying to get them uniforms. These are children who lost their parents to the insurgents. So we liaised with the Ministry of Women Affairs, to take custody of them but they are under the IDP initiative.
Food and medication
They will be educated within the orphanage home. We will supply their food and medication from here if need be. Their camp leaders (who they elected from among them), will liaise with them, go there at intervals to visit the children and give them some sense of belonging. We bought some toys for them. UNICEF also assisted us with some of the toys.”
Programme for young mothers and youths: The idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop. Being mindful of this and the fact that the youths are full of energy and zeal seeking expression, which if not properly channelled into productive ventures, will end up causing more problems in the society so apart from those in school, Furo said they have some programmes to engage the young mothers and men.
Waste-to-Wealth: “We have identified those young girls that are mothers. There has to be a programme for them because we are considering this thing as a long-term issue in the next 10, 15 years, and this is the time the negative aspects of some of their habits will manifest. So we want to ensure that those young mothers will have a programme like waste-to-wealth. We will teach them some trade. Already, you can see some of them weaving in the hostels. We encourage them to do that and AUN, Adamawa Peace Initiative, Red Cross, ADSEMA, NEMA and other institutions are partnering with us to take off the waste-to-wealth programme for them. This programme is to enable them make use of the waste polythene bags; recycle them to more useful products that could be sold like mats, bags, waste bins etc, just for us to make sure they are useful in the future so that they are not wasted mothers. We have some youth corps members that have volunteered to teach them how to make soap and other things. “
ICT training for young men: “We also have a programme for young boys who have completed secondary school and we feel that their talents should be harnessed to forestall idle minds in future. We partnered with other agencies to introduce the ICT programming.
Proper ventilation
We have 30 computers on ground and we are trying to dialogue with our partners to get a befitting hall for the safety of the computers and for proper ventilation. We have identified and enrolled about 30 of such people and we will soon start the programme.
Challenges: “The challenges are many,” said Furo. “To keep over 5,000 people in a camp is not easy. Those outside the camp are thrice this number. My advice to the IDPs outside the camp is that they should consider the future of their children. If they are around the camp, their children will benefit from the educational programme. We don’t know how long this will last; we don’t pray to stay long but we want them to create some enabling environment for their children. However, the Safe Schools Initiative and UNICEF are going round town to identify them with a view to linking them up with schools close to them. The other challenge here is that putting this number of people together, you have different habits, characters and so on. But thank God, the team of humanitarian workers around here have helped to keep this camp up to this time.
Feeding: “I want to emphasise that feeding is not our problem. We feed three times a day, we also have surplus. Our government is a listening government, both federal and state.
Primary health care
On the average, we cook 12 bags of rice per day for two meals. When it comes to breakfast, if it is noodles or spaghetti, we cook 64 to 70 cartons per meal.
Medicare: “Our appreciation goes to the Nigerian Medical Association and our medical officers within the state, more especially the primary healthcare sector. They have been wonderful. Whenever we have cases, we go to the Specialist Hospital or Federal Medical Centre in Yola and they attend to us with dispatch. We have noticed that those IDPs coming from the mountains come with a lot of diseases and the medical team have been handling that very well,” said Furo.
Dr. Boniface Gundiri, the state chairman, NMA
On October 21, when Vanguard visited the camp, members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Adamawa chapter, were there to celebrate their week with the IDPs offering free medical checks, treatment and medication.
Vanguard spoke to Dr. Boniface Gundiri, the state chairman of NMA who commended the authorities for the level of hygiene in the camp and the very good water supply system. “If not, there would have been a lot of problems.
Cholera outbreak
The cholera outbreak was minimal because of the water supply. We have a lot of malaria cases, hypertension, diarrhoea, psychologically-related cases, upper respiratory tract infections etc. ADSEMA has chosen two referral centres where they refer cases that would require special attention so for now, if there is any emergency case, the medical personnel on ground will call me and as the chairman, I will call the specialist to handle the case.
Apart from rendering free services, the medical personnel had earlier donated drugs worth over N250,000.
“Even today, we said it is going to be part of our outreach because the number has greatly increased, more than the number we met before so we brought in some more drugs and we are dispensing them as part of our community responsibility. We empathise with them for the situation they have found themselves in and we also try to allay their anxiety to at least reduce the psychological effect of the displacement,” said Gundiri.
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