Life is difficult in our camps – Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria

“Life in the camp is too difficult,’’ Obat Thomas, one of the Cameroonian refugees said as he saw our correspondent walking towards him at the Anyake Refugee Camp in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State. Thomas, a pastor, said things hadn’t been easy for him and others in the camp since they fled the […]

“Life in the camp is too difficult,’’ Obat Thomas, one of the Cameroonian refugees said as he saw our correspondent walking towards him at the Anyake Refugee Camp in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.

Thomas, a pastor, said things hadn’t been easy for him and others in the camp since they fled the unrest in their country to take refuge in the Tiv-speaking Anyake rural community.

Since he came to the camp in early 2018 he lives at the mercy of kind-hearted individuals and international organisations who sometimes visit the camp to lend a helping hand.

Thomas said, “Food is the major challenge; secondly, job. I’m a pastor. I studied nursing before going to the seminary, but there’s nothing for me to lay my hands on here.”

For Madam Agure Susiana, life has taken an unfortunate shine out of her since she left her country for shelter in Nigeria.

As if that was not enough, her son allegedly raped a teenage girl at the camp while she was away to her country to source for a means to make their lives better.

The mother of three expressed shock that her son could commit such crime. She said she hadn’t seen her son since she returned to Nigeria and seems not to even know how to find him.

“I am told that he was kept at ‘reception’ and later moved to Adikpo, then Makurdi. I have not been to these places; I don’t know how I’ll see my son,’’ Susiana said.

Another refugee, Aya Valentina, 38, said it had been difficult to cope with her three children in the camp due to lack of food and financial challenges.

Valentina said she lost her husband before the fight between the separatists and the Cameroonian government broke out.

She and her children have continued to live at the mercy of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Nigerian government.

Although Valentina said she wanted to go back to Cameroon, the crisis could not let her. At the moment, she cannot even afford to

take care of the education needs of her children.

“I don’t have anyone that can help me train them,’’ she said when asked about the education of her children.

Most of the refugees have similar tales. Although they are grateful that a shelter was provided for them, they said that life in the camp had been very difficult.

The Anyake facility, as observed, appeared overcrowded due to increasing number of refugees from Cameroon.

It was, however, learnt that at the moment, the UNHCR is constructing a new home for the refugees at Ikyogen, ahead of their relocation from Anyake. Already, 12 structures have been erected while others are under construction.

Our correspondent gathered that the plan to relocate the Cameroonian refugees from Anyake to Ikyogen is because of friction between them and the host community.

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, the chairman of Anyake Refugees Camp, Richard Akala, who has a fracture on his leg, said, “The population is now more than what we used to have. We were 4,012 refugees here. I left for Makurdi for treatment on June 26, 2019 and was discharged on Wednesday, August 28, but when I came back I saw more refugees.’’

He also said that housing and education of the children were the major challenges confronting the refugees.

“We are facing housing challenges here. We built these houses with our efforts. You can see that some of them are round and roofed with grass.

“The UNHCR was supposed to build for 27 communities but they built for seven. The rest are covered with tarpaulin. During hot afternoons they are as hot as a pot of soup. And due to this condition, diseases are easily transmitted.

“You need to come here during bedtime and see how many people sleep in a house. There is no space; we are sleeping like iced fish in a cartoon,” Akala explained.

He added that each refugee on the ration ticket is entitled to N7, 200 monthly, and stressed that the money was too little to take care of feeding and school needs of their children, such that most of them end up borrowing to survive.

Akala also said their allowances were not regular because there are times they won’t even get it for two months. To that extent, some of the refugees go to the host community to work and get food.

It would be recalled that the refugees were initially camped in Tyukase, Abande and Agbatse before they were relocated to Anyake, Kwande Local Government Area in June 2018, a UNHCR designated settlement.

According to Thomas Arthur Faustini of UNCHR office in Adikpo, the relocation exercise was the second since May 2018 in compliance with International Refugees Protection principles, which provide that refugees must be settled 50 kilometers away from their border country.

As narrated by the programme manager of the Benue Non Governmental Organisations Network (BENGONET), Queenta Anyanwu, the Benue State Government had donated a land for the purpose of relocating the refugees.

Anyanwu, who was also the manager of Anyake centre at the time, explained that the settlement had six communities of refugees, with 18 families per community. The families are, however, living in temporary shelters pending when permanent ones are built.

“They will build their structures by themselves and cost of labour will be paid to them. The shelters are provided by the UNHCR,’’ Anyanwu added.

One of the refugees, a teacher, Egumu Napolean, 35, who is married with four children and among those relocated from Abande to Anyake settlement, said he was happy to have moved to the new shelter with his two children and wife while the remaining family members are in Cross River State with his younger brother.

Last week, the executive secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Emmanuel Shior, raised concern about the welfare of over 6,000 refugees in the Anyake camp.

“We have been managing them there, and their population keeps increasing. We keep receiving what we call walk-ins or new arrivals. At the moment, we have about 6,000 refugees in Anyake camp,’’ he said.

Shior added that following concerns from the host community and other partners on the need for the refugees to have more space for farming and other things to assist their livelihood, government had approved that they be moved to the Ikyogen Cattle Ranch.

He said the financial burden of managing the refugees, alongside other internally displaced people in Benue, was huge on the state government. He called on the relevant agencies of the Federal Government to do more in catering for them.

Also, a good number of refugees from Cameroon, who are scattered all over Cross River State, have expressed gratitude to the government and people of Nigeria for being very receptive and hospitable to them since they fled their country.

According to them, unlike what many of them expected, including hostility from Nigerians, they have been shown love and pity.

There are over 3,000 Cameroonians described as urban

refugees; that is those who are not in Adagom, Ogoja and Anyake camps. They are scattered in many urban centres like Calabar, Akamkpa, Odukpani, Ikom etc.  Many of them claim to have been subjected to a bit of difficulty that stems from the fact that donations from the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) do not come in any more.

According to one of the coordinators of the refugees in Cross River State, Pastor Tabichou Afangha, “The last time we received some quantities of food items from regional coordinators of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMI) was in March 2019.

“Such a thing can hardly take anyone beyond two or three weeks. You can imagine how we cope. The urban refugees are experiencing a tough time, such that few of our young women are reported to have engaged in sex trade while one man was caught in crime. But we cannot blame anybody. Our host governments are wonderful and helpful.

“In February 2019, 52 of us out of 3,000 were selected and trained on skills acquisition programmes, such as phone repairs and cosmetology. At the end of the one week training, we were given startups, which included mini-laptops, mini generators, screwdrivers, makeup boxes for ladies etc and N10,000 each. We are grateful, nevertheless.

“In addition to accommodating us, the state government provided a massive camp in Ogoja, which is as big as four or five football fields. The governor, Prof Ben Ayade, once sent tons of food, beverages and medicines to the camp. This is love,’’ Afangha said.

He further said those in the camp were luckier, in the sense that many of them were given financial support to erect makeshift structures for their households. He said the UNHCR did not directly deal with refugees but through partner agencies, adding that each of them is supported with $200 and food items monthly, whereas the urban refugees who cannot settle in the camp for many reasons are left to their fate.

Also speaking, an official of the UNHCR said, “The Nigerian government, ourselves and other humanitarian actors have been providing protection and lifesaving assistance to Cameroonian refugees and other persons of concern with limited available resources.”

Statistics from the UNHCR shows that as at 2018, there were over 28,000 refugees in Cross River, Benue and Taraba states.  Presently, in Ogoja and Anyake camps alone, there are over 18,000 refugees, including women and children.

As at last weekend, more people were still arriving, owing to increased armed hostility in the southwestern Cameroon, which is fighting to break away and  become Ambazona Republic.

Speaking on the congestion at the Ogoja camp, the acting zonal coordinator of the NCRMI for Cross River and Akwa Ibom states, Mr Innocent Womi, said there was a serious plan to create two more camps in Akamkpa Local Government Area to accommodate the influx of refugees.

“There is a plan to build two more camps to accommodate refugees from Cameroon. The camp in Ogoja has become congested and something has to be done quickly.  We are still registering new arrivals, and we send them food items from time to time,’’ Womi said through his staff, Mr Andy.

But a refugee who stays in Calabar and does not want his name mentioned, said only a little quantity of food eventually got to them the last time items were sent.

“The turnout of people at the Federal Secretariat, Calabar to receive the foods in March 2019 was unprecedented. There was struggle during registration for the distribution of the food items. Many returned without any item while some who were lucky got small quantities.

The refugees accused some officials of cornering donations and adopting the principle of favouritism whenever there were items to be distributed.

Nicholas Mutanga, a refugee, said the UNHCR worked with partner agencies for medical support, but responses from them were not encouraging. He said that through various agencies, the UNHCR gives them cash of $200.

He said that education of their children and wards has been disrupted as there are no secondary and tertiary institutions except primary school.

To avoid additional load, the UNHCR has given each refugee a document titled ‘Protection and Assistance to Cameroonian Refugees in Nigeria.’ Part of the document states, “Since Cameroon refugees were relocated to Adagom and Anyake settlements in the beginning of 2018, the office has conducted a daily based monitoring and intervention together with SEMA and implementation partners to meet refugees’ needs and challenges.

“The UNHCR and its implementing partners focus on protection advocacy for Cameroon refugee legal status, protection monitoring and intervention, as well as projects to ensure that refugees live in safety and relative security within the settlements, as well as 50 more sites in border areas.  The UNHCR also advocates that refugees be given greater opportunities to work in Nigeria for better livelihood and self reliance.”

As it looks, Cameroonian refugees are not much at risk in Cross River State or Nigeria as a whole, but many of them claimed that spies from the Paul Biya government in Cameroon had infiltrated their ranks.

Some of the refugees spoken to in Calabar alleged that they were very careful as they usually notice agents of the Cameroonian government seemingly trailing them because of their vocal condemnation of the ongoing killings of their brothers and sisters in southwestern Cameroon.

A Cameroonian doctor in Calabar had reported that men believed to be spies stormed the venue of their meeting sometime ago and allegedly took eight of them back to Cameroon.

“The other day, strange men attacked my residence. They were not armed robbers. I strongly suspect their action,’’ said a refugee in Calabar south.

According to the temporary protection status that Nigeria extended to them, the Cameroonian refugees have only two years to stay in various camps across the country. This means that their stay will expire next year. However, the status can be renewed if the situation in their country remains as it is.