Sola Ojo, Kaduna
About 2,000 persons displaced after suspected bandits sacked 18 villages from their ancestral homes in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State are bemoaning the absence of relief materials to cushion their plight.
The displaced persons said they fled their villages for safety and are now taking refuge at LEA Primary School, Birnin Yero, located along the Kaduna-Zaria road. They said they are suffering the lack of food, water, adequate clothes, and toilet facilities and are appealing to relevant authorities for urgent help.
One of the refugees, Alhaji Audu, recounted how he lost his grandson, 11 cows and two motorcycles to the bandits.
“Since morning, I haven not eaten anything because there is no food. In this camp, we want basic amenities, like water, food and toilet facilities. Our women and children are laying on bare floor to sleep. The environmental is not conducive
“We are in need of urgent assistance; we want the government to chase away the kidnappers so that we can go back home. We need to go back to our villages to harvest our farm produce,” said Audu.
Ibrahim Isah, another refugee, who said he had once been abducted and released after the payment of ransom, said the bandits left a strong messages during the recent attack that they want the government to dialogue with them or the attacks won’t end.
“They gave me a massage that since Kaduna state government refuses to dialogue with them, they will continue kidnapping people and demand for ransom.
“They threatened that by the time they chase all of us away from our villages, and move into towns to kidnap many and seek huge amount of money from them, we would then know they mean business,” said Isah.