Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital have alleged that food items meant for them are being diverted by government officials and politicians in the state.
Group of IDPs from Gwoza, recently relocated to the Bakassi camp told DAILY POST that they refused to go back to camps because there was no food for the IDPs, as they were being fed only once daily.
They said the food that was meant particularly for nursing mothers and children were being diverted.
Audu Nglavda, one of the IDPs, who said they now lived in uncompleted buildings across Maiduguri, said they were better on the street than the camps where they were kept as prisoners.
“Now we can go out and look for job and come back without anybody harassing us. The little we can have to eat is better and timely than what we have to be waiting for at the camp, where we are being treated like animals and only given one meal for a day”, he said.
Speaking on why they did not return to their villages since the military said they had recovered the area, he said, “Those statements are more of political talk. There is a camp in Pulka, at the junction leading to ‘Bayan dutse’ and another camp in GWOZA town. Those are the only places we know people are being kept under the watchful eyes of the military. Other places like ‘Bayan dutse’ are yet to be liberated as we speak and those of us from there cannot go back if we want to be alive.”
Another of the group, Malam Diya UMAR said, children who died in the camp as reported in the media died as a result of lack of body building food for the mothers and the children.
“If you visit the homes of some of the government officials in this town you will know exactly what we are talking about. The water they would give you as visitor is from NEMA, the milk they use is from NEMA, the rice and maize they eat is from NEMA, everything from NEMA and I ask, who are the IDPs if everything that is meant for IDPs finds their way to the stores and tables of government officials and politicians? We do go to their houses and we find it hard to believe that these people are not using us for their selfish gains. Personally, this is what made me to refuse going back to IDP camp.” UMAR said.
The group said, although some of them went back to GWOZA to join with the other IDPs in Pulka and GWOZA town, they choose to remain within the state capital because they are not confident that the situation back home warrant them to take such a decision until they are very sure GWOZA is safe for them to return home.
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