Malnourished IDPs of Bama now happy entrepreneurs

When over 2,700 people with cases of malnutrition were brought from liberated communities in Bama local government area of Borno state to Maiduguri, the state capital for treatment,  few people that saw them believed they could ever recover, and even among those that were hoping that they will recover, nobody expected that their recovery would happen within  a few months.

 

Most of the children and even some adults were brought in wheelbarrows, stretchers and baskets ,while some were carried on hands or supported by others to walk, and remained so within the first few days of their stay at the Nursing village stabilization center in Maiduguri, the state capital.

 

Recounting their ordeal, most of the malnourished said their problems started when Boko Haram insurgents that attacked their villages in Bama local government, carted away their food items, clothes, personal belongings and money, to unknown places around Sambisa forest, and forced them to live in unorganized camps manned by the insurgents.

 

Modu was one of the grown up villagers that was rescued from one of such camps and brought to the center for rehabilitation “After they raided my village, they took us to an open space where they had their tents. I was held there for eight months. Within that period, I hardly ate three times a week. There was no water to drink. Nobody spoke of bathing unless the rain beats you. There was no medication even when you are sick. You cannot go anywhere. We lived  in the open space on the ground.

 

“I didn’t know when I was brought here, but I was told I was so fragile and I couldn’t be carried with hands. They used a locally made stretcher to carry me. When I say I was hungry, that  is an understatement. I was near death. I was being spoon fed for the first three days I was brought here. When I had my meals and I started becoming strong, that was when I realized that I was here with my wife and three children. We were given food items to be cooking for ourselves. Sometimes I will demand for food even in the middle of the night. When I started going to toilet twice a day, I knew I was alive again.

 

“Yes, Medical Doctors and Health workers were at our service throughout, but I believe my major problem was hunger ,and so it was the food that did the magic. The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) provided each family with assorted food items which  included  rice, indomie, ingredients for tea ,and we had a steady supply of water. Look at the type of houses we have been living in since we came. We have been enjoying constant supply of electricity. That is enough for us to recover. I recovered fully within my first two weeks here.”

 

Yana Alhaji Modu who said she was held by the insurgents for over 10 months under dehumanizing conditions  with very little access to food and water, said she sometimes had to  blow air into her three months old baby to keep him alive, as there was no food or  water to feed him.

 

“They abducted me when I was pregnant. I delivered in the bush under their care. Due to lack of food, my breast was not even producing milk for my child to suck. I gave up completely. I was not expecting this child to survive. His survival was a miracle to me. I don’t know where my husband is. I saw him during the last few days before my abduction, when he ran away from our village to avoid the insurgents. I believe he is alive and we shall meet one day.” 7-year old Fanna who was brought unconscious to the center before she fully recovered  in her 3rd week in the center, her hobby might be cooking as her fellow IDPs noticed her love for Indomie which SEMA has provided enough of.

 

When this reporter caught up with Fanna cooking her favorite Indomie and sought to talk to her, Fanna’s concern was if the reporter wants to eat. Though she only speaks Kanuri, the interpreter said, “She is not willing to answer any question. She said repeatedly that I should ask if you want to eat the Indomie, so that she can serve you.”

Though all the IDPs claimed they had no money on them at the time they were brought to the center, saying the insurgents had robbed them of all they had, a lot of buying and selling, especially the knitting and selling of caps has kept a lot of the women in the camp very busy, as they could be seen in groups doing the business.

Ya Jimma who knits caps  in the camp said she borrowed money from a SEMA official that she knew to be a friend to her son, and decided to start knitting caps  in the camp, a trade she has been practicing back at home before she was abducted by the insurgents.

“I bought N5,000 from him which I used to buy thread, needles and cloth that I used to knit a cap that I sold for N8,000. I have knitted many caps since then which I sold to people. I have since refunded the N5,000 to the owner. I now have a capital of about N50,000. My biggest joy is I can buy anything I want to buy ,without borrowing money from anybody. There are over 20 women knitting caps in this camp.

“We are helping ourselves by lending  money to those that do not have to start the cap knitting business. We are not into any form of competition. When it comes to knitting of caps, Bama is number one. Nobody can compete  with us. Even if we decide to go back to our villages and knit caps there, people must follow us there to go and buy. People come here to buy the caps. Some people will even come with the design they want, and pay us in advance to knit for them.”

 

The state chairman of SEMA, Engineer Ahmed Alhaji Satomi who spoke through an official of the agency, Umar Lawal, said realizing that hunger and improper care were part of the problems the malnourished IDPs faced under their captors, assorted food items capable of helping them to regain their strength were provided to them, in addition to the proper medication they were getting from health officials and medical doctors.

“This stabilization center was established when these people were rescued from various villages in Bama local government and were very sick and malnourished. They told us they were being held by Boko Haram for between 6 and 20 months, and were not having enough food and water. It is true that initially when they came some of them could not even walk. We had to carry some on stretchers to the clinic and back. Some were smelling badly,and so  we had to wash their clothes and bath them.

“On the women knitting caps, yes, we are helping them to go to the market and buy thread, needles and the cloth they use in knitting the caps. You can see 10 to 13 year old boys and girls also knitting caps. It has been their major trade before they were abducted. People, including traders come here to buy caps from them.

“We are releasing food items to each household. But because there are a lot of orphans and some male adults,  whose wives are not around to cook for them, we have a central kitchen where we cook for that category of people.”