CAR refugees narrate ordeal
The actual population of Nigerians living in CAR could not be immediately determined but a member of the Northern Nigerian Association in Bangui, Garba Madi said there could be about 5,000 Nigerians living in the Capital city, including about 3,000 people from the northern states and over 2,000 Igbos. Many travelled by road via Cameroon […]
The actual population of Nigerians living in CAR could not be immediately determined but a member of the Northern Nigerian Association in Bangui, Garba Madi said there could be about 5,000 Nigerians living in the Capital city, including about 3,000 people from the northern states and over 2,000 Igbos. Many travelled by road via Cameroon from Nigeria, while others used different means of water transport through Calabar to CAR. Others also passed through Chad to CAR.
The eruption of violence on December 5, 2013 between militias in the country, led to the death of hundreds of people, including about 200 Nigerians. The violence which later took religious dimensions, forced several countries to evacuate their nationals from the CAR, including Nigeria.
The United Nations estimates that more than 2,000 people have been killed in tit-for-tat clashes, while almost one million people, or a quarter of the population, have been displaced by fighting.
Close to 3,000 Nigerians were repatriated following the crisis, but most of the Nigerian refugees born in CAR have not been in contact with their families in Nigeria, while others have never visited their country of origin. The situation was pitiable at the Muslim Hajj Camp Abuja, where the refugees were first assembled before they were transported to their states of origin. Apparently, the refugees were from different states, including the north-eastern states of Nigeria sharing boundaries with Chad and Cameroon which are close to CAR. Majority of the refugees said their parents migrated to CAR from Nigeria by road as traders and even as migrant workers. They also narrated their experience in CAR.
Manzo Ezekiel, spokesman for the National Management Emergency Agency (NEMA) said the agency registered over 2,000 people seeking refuge at the Nigerian Embassy in Bangui, and all were repatriated. He said his agency had communicated with all the 36 state governments and the federal capital administration, on the need to send vehicles to Abuja to convey their indigenes. “We started transporting women, children and the sick using three aircraft, including the air force C-130. President Goodluck Jonathan had directed that all Nigerians be evacuated and the officials of the foreign affairs ministry, and that of NEMA were at CAR to monitor the exercise.” He said NEMA took the responsibility of taking two pregnant women to the hospital, who delivered a few hours after their arrival in Nigeria.
Hauwa Suleiman 55, said her parents migrated to Bangui from Mubi, Adamawa state, years before she was born. “I was born there.” She met her husband of Nigerian origin in Bangui and gave birth to 10 children. She lived there all her life, but before the death of her husband in Bangui, the couple traced their families in Nigeria and maintained cordial relationship with them. Some of her children married their spouses in CAR, while a few others live in Nigeria. When violence erupted, she took two of her grand children to the Nigerian embassy to seek refuge. “When fighting begun, I managed to escape with two of my grandchildren, a 10-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl. We were evacuated by the Nigerian authorities to Abuja ,and I hope to move to Mubi to stay with my son.”
Suleiman said she will stay in Nigeria and will not return to CAR even when normalcy returns there, and will discourage anyone willing to travel to conflict areas in the CAR. At the Hajj Camp where the refugees were sheltered, Suleiman looked emotionally disturbed with the two little children now entirely under her care, but said she was grateful to the Almighty, for saving their lives. Her eldest son returned to Nigeria long ago and is living happily with his wife and children. “I will now stay with my grandchildren in Nigeria, which is safer than CAR.”
Pastor Daniel said he migrated to the CAR about seven years ago from Imo state for purposes of evangelism, and was preaching the Christian gospel in Bangui before the escalation of violence. Daniel became successful in CAR, but his house and cars were burnt down by a rampaging gang, who made life a misery for foreigners. “I escaped unhurt, but my house and vehicles were all burnt in Bangui where I lived for over seven years. A lot of people were killed while those that are alive went through a traumatic experience which has left them with frightening memories. We fled to the Nigerian embassy where we stayed as refugees, until we were evacuated. We expect the Nigerian government to give us financial assistance just like refugees from other countries, such as Chad and Niger, to start a small businesses.”
Daniel said he will continue evangelical work in Nigeria,and will not return to CAR and seemed full of expectations.
Ummul Buba is a 14-year -old girl whose father migrated to CAR from Gombe state. He was a trader there for many years before he died of natural causes about two years ago. She was staying with her mother who works as a food vendor to earn money to feed the family. When the violence started in Bangui, her senior brother was attacked and killed by a faction of the militia, and his corpse hasn’t been traced. She said, she managed to escape to the Nigerian Embassy together with her mother and little sister ,where they stayed for days before they were evacuated to Abuja.
Ummul Buba said she and her mother may likely spend months trying to locate the relatives of her father in Gombe. “I am attending school in Bangui and I hope to continue schooling in Nigeria, but the major challenge is how to locate our family in Gombe and start a new life. We left all our belongings there, except the clothes we are wearing. As a matter of fact, we share only one blanket. The future is bleak for us because we don’t know our fate. We spent days in the Nigerian Embassy without food.”
She complained of overcrowding and hunger at the Hajj camp, Abuja, where they lived briefly before they were transported to their respective states.
Priscilla Anegbe, from Aguleri in Anambra state, said she was living with her husband who sells automotive spare parts in Bangui for almost six years, and when the militias began attacking people, she took her three children to the Nigerian Embassy. “My husband said he will not leave Bangui now because of his assets there, so I fled to the Embassy with my children. The situation was horrific and anybody can be attacked at any time. So many people were killed, some in the presence of their children, wives or family members. I can trace my family house in Aguleri, and as soon as I leave Abuja, I will go there. I will never return to that country again. Nigeria is better.”
Another grieving man, Alhaji Ali Gana said he moved to Bangui in the year 2000 and is an indigene of Maiduguri town. He got married to a lady from CAR who gave birth to two children. “My wife was killed in Bangui and left behind two little children. What actually happened was that one evening while we were home, we saw people running in a disorderly manner, and when we requested to know the reason someone told us that there was mob violence. So my wife went out to look for the whereabouts of her sister who had gone out earlier. After some time neither my wife nor her sister had returned home, so, I went out too, to find what was happening, and a man told me that my wife had been killed by the Anti-Balaka militia, who were moving in great numbers. He said they were hunting for Seleka militia and could attack any one they perceived to be their opponent, and advised me to run away before they reach my house. I quickly went back home, salvaged some vital things and fled with my children. I ran to the Nigerian Embassy together with other people, where we stayed as refugees before we were evacuated. It is sad that my lovely and obedient wife was killed by violent people without any reason, leaving behind these (pointing at two frail looking) children entirely under my care. They are always with me, and for now they could not determine what had happened to their mother because they are too young. The boy, Mahmud is three years while the girl, Amina is three years. I will stay in Maiduguri now with my children.”
Aisha Aji 27, said her parents migrated from Mubi, Adamawa state to Bangui before she was born. She got married to a Chadian who ran away when violence broke out. “I got married to a Chadian in Bangui were I was born. He fled to an unknown location when fighting began in December 2013, and since then I have not heard from him. I had to leave CAR to Nigeria because they (militias) are killing people. They slaughtered a lot of people in our presence, because there was a complete breakdown of law and order, and there was mutual suspicion among the residents. We are lucky to have escaped alive, and we are grateful to the Almighty, and the Nigerian government.”
But while hundreds of people fled the CAR following the disturbances, some Nigerians refused to leave the country in anticipation that things will get better. Garba Madi said he will stay in Bangui until normalcy returns, but has made an arrangement to transport most of his movable assets to Nigeria. “I will return to Nigeria by road with all my belongings. I will go to the bank to withdraw my money because the banks have been opening for two hours each day,” Madi told this reporter by telephone.