•Woman recounts how husband was slaughtered
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Members of the Federal Commission for Migrants, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) could not have bargained for what they got. But by the end of their tour of the camps of IDP in Kebbi State, they were certainly overwhelmed by the tales of sorrow that personified reality in these camps.
Accompanied by the State Emergency Agency (SEMA), members of the commission, led by Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq toured these camps, ascertained their needs and listened to their story.
Account after account, these Nigerians reeled out extraordinary tales of their tragedies and horrors. While some recalled how they hungered and thirsted for days without end; others remembered how they trekked long and unending distances to escape the terrorists.
One of the victims, Hajia Kulu-Manu Bunza, provided graphic details of how she lost her husband in Baga, Borno State. She said at Bunza Local Government Refugees Camp, that she lost contact with her husband three years ago when the insurgents took over Baga, adding that ever since then her life had never been the same.
In an emotional laden voice, Bunza, who is a mother of nine children, recalled: “On that fateful day, my children and I only wore one cloth and we started running for our dear lives even after we had lost our dear ones. For three days, we were trekking, there was no food and there was nowhere to hide.”
An indigene of Kebbi State, but married to a man from Borno State, she continued: “I have not seen my husband since that day. Incidentally, a man used his phone to talk to us two years ago, but we don’t believe he was the one that spoke to us.”
With nine children and 18 grand-children, all quartered in the same camp with her, she said feeding had become a very difficult task even as she added: “One of my daughters wants to marry now, but we don’t even have the money or means to carry on with her engagement.”
Another displaced person, Hajia Saadat Suleiman, could not hold back her tears as she remembered how her husband was slaughtered right before her some three years ago. The mother of five from Borno State said she fled with others to Kebbi State after that tragic incident:
“They slaughtered him when he refused to obey them. We started running with others to Maiduguri on foot for three days before they brought us to Kebbi State. I lost my husband to them. I have five children to cater for in this camp.”
Many of the displaced persons in these camps, though going through excruciating conditions, yet expressed joy and gratitude to God for the downsizing of the activities of the Boko Haram in the region while soliciting for support from various tiers of governments and from concerned groups to enable them speedily return back home and resume their normal lives.
Farouq admitted that the displaced persons were in need of urgent attention, stressing that the situation in which they were camped was below the human scale. She personally donated 20 bags of rice and counseled that they needed more of empowerments rather than relief materials.
She disclosed that over 20,000 displaced persons were in these camps in the state, stressing that the Federal Government was committed to ensuring they returned to their various homes.
Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu observed that the state was confronted with a number of problems that border on the mandate of the commission:
“The biggest challenges are the registration of people who are either migrants or IDP. If you start registering migrants now, it would have negative connotations. We don’t know how many children are in IDP camps so that we can provide what they need. We need data to provide schools for them and farmlands in the communities hosting them.
“The last issue is the issue of border delineation exercise with Benin Republic and Nigeria. Some of our villages are determined to be with Benin Republic and they too have their communities in Nigeria. It is not easy to move people from the borders to another country with different languages, different identities.”