Saving IDPs’ souls

Following an attack on its humanitarian convoy, the United Nations (UN) recently suspended aid deliveries to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Borno state. The convoy was returning to Maiduguri after delivering aid to IDPs in Bama. The convoy which was escorted by heavily armed soldiers came under fire from unidentified gunmen suspected to be […]

Following an attack on its humanitarian convoy, the United Nations (UN) recently suspended aid deliveries to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Borno state. The convoy was returning to Maiduguri after delivering aid to IDPs in Bama. The convoy which was escorted by heavily armed soldiers came under fire from unidentified gunmen suspected to be terrorists. Staff of UNICEF and another international organization were wounded in the process. This was why the UN temporarily put aid deliveries on hold until the security situation in the region improved.
The suspension by the UN of aid and fund supplies to IDPs in Borno State has subjected the affected people (whose lives and living conditions have for years suffered devastation from Boko Haram insurgents) to hunger and health issues. It would be recalled that UNICEF had before the attack on its convoy declared that nearly a quarter of a million children in Borno state suffer from life-threatening malnourishment; adding that one in five children will die if they do not receive treatment. Officials of the Medicine Sans Frontiers have noted that poorly fed children were dying in large numbers in northeast Nigeria due to shortage of food supplies.
Several media publications had reported rising hunger in IDPs’ camps, which according to the reports, was allegedly caused by camp officials who diverted food items meant for feeding malnourished displaced persons; an allegation described by officials of the Borno state government as fallacious and unfounded. In a publication of the Daily Trust on Sunday newspaper edition of July 17, 2016; an ambulance belonging to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in Borno state was intercepted by members of the Civilian JTF guarding the gate of the IDP camp at Arabic Teachers’ College (ATC) Maiduguri. The Civilian JTF members received a tip-off from some displaced persons in the camp that the ambulance was carrying stolen goods. The ambulance was discovered to be carrying 36 bags of rice.
There are persuasive reasons for displaced persons at the ATC camp in Maiduguri to insinuate that the use of an ambulance to convey bags of rice had ulterior motive(s). It was a pretext, perhaps, to deceive the displaced persons at the camp that the ambulance was conveying a patient to the hospital for medical treatment since ambulances are conventionally meant for transporting persons in need of emergency medical attention, not rice. This should presumably be the thought of the general public too especially as the ambulance was blaring siren at the time it was stopped at the gate of the ATC camp for searching.
The Daily Trust publication under reference also reported that displaced persons at the camp have alleged re-bagging of food stuffs by officials in order to divert parts of it. Although the IDPs were told by Governor Kashim Shettima of Boro state that they were entitled to three meals daily, the displaced persons confirmed to reporters that they were served a meal daily. Even the one square meal was, according to the displaced person, poorly cooked and lacked the expected taste. Even the one square meal was sometimes not forthcoming. Of all the allegations advanced by the displaced persons, the one which this writer considers more sinful is the use by camp officials of the same ‘stolen’ food items to entice ladies to go out with them. Subhana-llahi! Wal iyazu bi-llah!
In his reaction to some of these allegations, the chairman of SEMA in Borno State, Engineer Ahmed Alhaji Satomi, denied the allegations and said such false claims came from people who did not expect that the state government would be able to withstand and manage the challenges in various displaced persons’ camps’. Acknowledging that corruption has ubiquitously penetrated the psyche of most Nigerians, in words and in actions; mere refutation by government officials of serious allegations such as those made by displaced persons was not good enough. It was also not the best way of disposing of the cases of alleged theft of diversion of food items. Since IDPs’ camps are under government control and supervision, the ideal step would have been for Governor Kashim Shettima to investigate the allegations through an ad-hoc panel of inquiry. The years of impunity when corrupt government officials got away with corrupt practices are over in Nigeria. If all the accusations or some of them are found to be true as alleged, those responsible should be sanctioned according to law. Government has a duty not to allow some corrupt officials to deny displaced persons the right to benefit from the relief items supplied by humanitarian groups and individuals.
Even Nigerians who are not displaced or living in camps are not finding it easy today to cope with feeding and medical care because of the hard times which the country’s economic recession unleashed on them. The situation with the IDPs is, therefore, better imagined. The absence of basic necessities of life that is bedeviling displaced persons coupled with natural disasters has further compounded their living conditions. Flood resulting from a heavy downpour recently submerged 35 flats at the Bakassi IDPs’ camp in Maiduguri. The displaced persons lost most of their belongings to the flood. The situation was worsened further by snakes that were sent out of their holes by the flood.
To save the souls of displaced persons from malnutrition, hunger, disease and psychological instability, there is no alternative to making the entire northeast region of Nigeria that was once under the full control of insurgents safer by completely defeating Boko Haram and ending the war against insurgency so that displaced persons can return to their homes. Camps located in flood-plain areas of cities should be moved to safe locations. Government officials within and outside of displaced persons’ camps should fear Allah (SWT) and stop converting items meant for displaced persons in to their own personal use. May Allah (SWT) guide and support Nigerian troops to completely defeat and wipe out insurgency from the country so that government and individuals would devote their time, energy and resources to tackling other critical challenges facing nation, amin.