An
Internally Displaced Persons camp with over 900 victims of Boko Haram
insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country has been uncovered in Edo
State.
It was
gathered that most of the IDPs in the camp, located in a remote community in
Edo South senatorial district of the state, were children between the ages of
four months and 20 years.
It was
learnt that the camp, which originally serves as a centre for the needy and
founded by the International Christian Centre for Mission, had provided food
and shelter for the IDPs since 2013.
The camp
covers a large expanse of land and has several blocks of rooms and halls, most
of which were made of wood, serving as classrooms and bedrooms for the
displaced persons.
It was
gathered that the refugees included men, women and children whose families were
killed and homes burnt by the insurgents.
The
camp, it was also learnt, depends on a generator to provide its own
electricity and water.
When our
correspondent visited the camp on Friday, most of the children seen receiving
lessons from the makeshift classrooms, while some the them, who had been
infected with chicken pox, were quarantined according to gender.
Some of
the victims, who recounted their ordeal, said they lost all they had to the
insurgents, who also attacked them in caves where they had initially sought
refuge.
One
them, Tani Philemon, stated that she had been abducted by the insurgent from
her home, in Gwoza Local Government Area of Bornu State, but escaped
miraculously after several day of fasting.
She said,
“Boko Haram attacked us in our village and we ran to the mountains. But they
followed us and killed some people, including my husband. At the mountain,
there was no food; we were just eating leaves.
“I search
for my dead husband and buried him by just putting some sand on his corpse.
After two days at the mountain, they (Boko Haram) came and abducted me and my
children and took us to Gwoza where we spent about three weeks.
“After
three days, we fasted and prayed. Suddenly, God made them (insurgents) fall
asleep and we managed to escape by climbing a wall; we ran to Cameroon. We
spent three days without food and water
“But God
sent some people to us who took us to Yola (Adamawa State) and when we got
there, we heard of a man of God who helps people in need. He was the one who
paid for our transportation to this place (camp).”
The
Overseer of the ICC, Solomon Folorunsho, told journalists, during a visit to
the camp, that the IDPs were brought to the facility from Borno and Adamawa
states, through Jos, the Plateau State capital.
Folorunsho said
the displaced persons depended on donations from faith-based organisations, institutions
and individuals.
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