Niger IDPs Lament Shortage of Food, Medicals, Calls for Govt’s Intervention

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Internally Displaced Peoples(IDPs) in Niger State have cried out over lack of food and medicals in their camps and have therefore called on the government to salvage the situation.

Investigations revealed that the IDPs numbering over 42,000 are being camped in educational institutions and religious places of worship in Shiroro, Munya and Rafi local government areas of the state.

The IDPs, mostly women and children,  were displaced from their ancestral homes as a result of banditry and terrorist attacks which led to the killing of several men in the communities.

The investigations revealed that apart from shortage of food items and medicaments the IDPs also complained of congestion with not less than 80 of them being accommodated  in one classroom.

Already cases of malnutrition are being reported in the camps with 50 children from the Zumba IDP camp reported to be undergoing treatment for lack of adequate food.

The Shiroro local government IDP Desk Officer and Coordinator, Mallam  Yusuf Bala Kuta,  who confirmed this development decried  what he called “inadequate food stuffs” in the camps in the local government leading to hunger and starvation.

Though Bala Kuta said some governmental organisations including the Nigerian Red Cross and Wife of the State Governor have donated food items and drugs to the camp in recent times, the “ huge population has made the donations grossly inadequate”

“The IDPs here are suffering because their communities have been burnt down by bandits. Some of them are sick and currently in the hospital and we don’t have adequate drugs

“About 80 people sleep in one classroom. You know that can cause diseases and sicknesses” Bala Kuta declared. 

The IDPs had planned a protest before the last Ed Il Kabir festival but their plan leaked to the security agencies and was therefore thwarted by the police.

The state Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Alhaji Baba Suleiman Yumu when contacted by newsmen  confirmed that there are over 42,000 IDPs from 75 communities  in various camps in the state adding that :

“The governor Mohammed Umar Bago administration has been doing all its best in providing succor for the affected victims within the available resources.”

Also, the Director General of Niger State Emergency Management Agency NSEMA Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah speaking through the Public Relations Officer of the organisation  Mallam Hussain Ibrahim said the state government has laid emphasis on  the welfare and wellbeing of those in needs especially during emergencies.

Alhaji Baba Arah  confirmed that recently relief food items were given out for distribution to the IDPs, adding that the “Agency is always up to its tasks when the need arises which will be sustained in all its ramifications.”