A walk through the Internal Displace persons’ camp along Markudi-lafia road, will change that happy and dazzling smile on your once face into sorrow. One will never have imagined, if humans could stay in such a degrading environment.
Entering the camp from the left wing is like trying to escape from a proverbial snake with a daring image, the constant rainfall had turned the sandy entrance at the gate to look more like a dirty construction site.
Security at the camp is not strict, few security men were seen at strategic positions outside the facility, inside the camp itself shows no sign of orderliness
We Gained entrance into the camp after meeting with the camp commander, the displaced persons we saw look frail, weak, abandoned and uninterested at our visit. Just like a market place, the IDP’s were gathered in a group of 15 for breakfast.
The camp lack basic amenities, there were no health clinic, no good water, public convenience is opened, making them vulnerable to diseases and the tenth built for two persons is squatting 6 persons.
Children and women fall sick occasionally but rely heavily on the traditional healing system as there are little to no medical care available. Pregnant women are force to put to bed on a bear floor.
According to anonymous source that don’t want his name mention, there is no week that passes by without recording a death in the camp, this claim has not been verified.
The Structures At the Camp
The camp itself is congested. The Food, Drugs and Money provided by aid donors are either mismanaged or unaccounted for.
They say the deepest places of regret and sober reflection are Hospital, Mortuary and Prison. Permit me to add the Abagana IDP camp in Makurdi. A war torn Syria, Libya, Iraq, Palestine etc. have better and well founded IDP camps. Why is the situation different here? A collogue questioned.
Displaced from their villages due to header farmer clash, some villagers who have been earning a living from farming in gwer east Local Government Area, found themselves at the mercy of a failed system.
Life is unpredictable, a once peaceful and happy people, living happily with headers from the North, sharing Lands, Cultures and even Beliefs, has now gone assailant.
This is not a time to apportion or trade blames, the government is doing her very best to curtail the security situation so that lasting peace can be sustained.
A Call for Help
As we all know, the crisis in their community is not over yet, the government and few individuals have been helping these people, the population in the camp keep rising as more people join.
The IDPs never imagine to find themselves in this sorry state, some were abandoned by loved once and friends. It is in our culture to help, just like what the Bible say, we should be our brother’s keeper.
Nothing is too big and nothing is small, a little help can go a long way in putting smiles in the faces of many, don’t wait for anyone to tell you what to do. People in such situations desperately need your help. Heaven is counting on you to show love, care and support.
Why not take your next birthday celebration to the IDP camp? Why not bring out some of those old clothes in your wardrobe and be of assistance to does without clothes?
Store Owners, Pharmaceutical Companies, Religious Bodies, Businessmen and Women, this is the opportunity to answer to the analogy” when I was hungry you fed me, when I was naked you clothed me”, extend your hand of friendship.