Internally displaced persons in parts of the country have two reasons to be sorrowful: having been deprived the comfort of their homes as a result of killings and wanton destruction; they must now live with ignominy, the victims of man’s inhumanity to man.

In camps for displaced persons in Taraba State, there are allegations of diversion of relief materials, even as camp leaders say they have petitioned Governor Darius Ishaku on the matter; food items donated by various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) hardly reach the intended recipients.

Nigeria and the global community were shocked, recently, by images of malnourished and starving children at camps for the displaced in Bama, Borno State.
The disturbing revelation came amid a swirl of allegations that some unscrupulous officials were diverting relief materials meant for the displaced to private use, even as branded aid items continued to end up on market shelves.

“We have lost count of people that have died so far in this camp. It was really a messy situation when you have to pick corpses of malnourished persons everyday; sometimes some of the dead ones may not even be discovered on time. The theft is not restricted to food items alone; drugs, toiletries, beddings and wrappers have been diverted to the market and sold by greedy officials,” a source at a camp told Premium Times.

“Even when you see the items with your naked eyes, when it is time that they should be distributed to us, you begin to hear stories after stories,” one displaced person told The Guardian in Taraba.

“The homes of many of the camp officials are filled with relief materials meant for us. We wish security personnel would, one day, take them by surprise and search their houses,” he added.

The displaced persons pleaded anonymity for fear they could be victimised by camp officials, and praised the commitment of NGOs, faith-based organisations and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).They prayed that when NGOs bring relief materials, they would wait and watch the items distributed to the displaced persons leaving the camps.

“It is true that most of these so-called relief materials don’t get to us. Even the ones we see with our eyes disappear. Our only plea is for those who bring these items to always make sure they are distributed to us before they turn back,” said one of the respondents. “We are very certain that with proper monitoring, it would be impossible for those diverting the items to do so again,” he added.

Despite the billions of naira purportedly donated to care for displaced persons, International medical humanitarian organisation, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) raised the alarm last month that many children were actually dying of starvation.

“A catastrophic humanitarian emergency is currently unfolding in a camp for internally displaced people in Borno State, Nigeria. For several hours on 21 June, an MSF medical team was able to access the town of Bama in northeastern Nigeria, where 24,000 people, including 15,000 children (among them 4,500 under five years of age) are sheltered in a camp located on a hospital compound,” MSF had said.

It added: “During those few hours, the MSF medical team discovered a health crisis – referring 16 severely malnourished children at immediate risk of death to the MSF in-patient therapeutic feeding centre in Maiduguri. A rapid nutritional screening of more than 800 children found that 19 percent were suffering from severe acute malnutrition – the deadliest form of malnutrition.

“During its assessment, the MSF team counted 1,233 graves located near the camp, which had been dug in the past year. Of those graves, 480 were for children…Since 23 May, at least 188 people have died in the camp – almost six people per day – mainly from diarrhoea and malnutrition.”

The Federal Government, however, has pledged to supply more food, relief items, shelter, water and healthcare to the about 24,000 IDPs taking refuge at Bama Hospital. Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Hajiya Maryam Uwais, said cases of malnourishment among children in camps would be addressed with a deployment of doctors and other health personnel to Bama and other camps in the state.

“With the Federal Government delegation’s visit today to this camp, to assess your living conditions and other camp facilities here in Bama, President Muhammadu Buhari is concerned and committed towards addressing your problems of inadequate supplies of water, food and health care delivery,” said Maryam.

The Commander of 21 Armoured Brigade, Bama, Col. Adamu Laka, took the delegation, which includes senior officials of the Borno State Government, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, the State Emergency Management Agency, and representatives from the United Nations, round the camp.

The Borno State Health Commissioner, Dr. Haruna Mshelia, said 1,800 of the most vulnerable persons in the camp have been relocated to Maiduguri for medical attention and specialised feeding.

He said the report of acute malnutrition in the camp and deaths were exaggerated, stressing that the state government, with the supports from the Federal Government and other development partners, had been doing their best.

The North East zonal coordinator of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, said the Federal Government, through the Presidential Initiative for the North East, has commenced the construction of 500 new tents each in some camps In Maiduguri and in satellite camps including Bama, Dikwa, Moguno and Konduga.

The fate of some displaced persons in Edo State, however, might serve as a comforting narrative, perhaps even a book to take a leaf from.As a visitor approaches the vast compound of the International Christian Centre (ICC), tucked in a forest in Uhoghua community, Ovia North East Local Government Area, he is met by a security post consisting personnel drafted from the army, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) and Department of State Security (DSS).

The Guardian noted that while reports from camps in the North East indicated deplorable conditions and diversion of aid materials, the reverse is the case in Edo where the inmates spot radiant looks.

Disturbed by the sordid reports emanating from camps for the displaced in Borno State, Manager of the Centre, Pastor Folorunsho Solomon, said: “It is a very pathetic situation. People who engage in these acts, I just can’t imagine if they are human or have human meekness inside them. If only they were in the shoes of these people.

“Is it from people who escape death; people who are suffering that you want to make money? Anyone who does such won’t live long. You won’t even enjoy the proceeds. I can tell you there’s nothing like that happening here.”

And turning to the reporter, he said: “Just go among them (inmates) and ask some questions. Feel free and they will tell you better.”And so, Andaras Keturas from Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, currently in Senior Secondary School (SSS1) at the camp, tells The Guardian: “We were stranded but God helped us and we found our way here. Now, we are in school. We eat, and we thank God for that. I am in SS 1. I am enjoying the place and we are fine. My father died during an attack. My mother is in Maiduguri. I am here with my sister and I pray that God will help them. I will like to travel to see my mother during the holidays and come back during resumption.”

Notwithstanding, Folorunsho explained that the camp is still faced with a number of challenges. Besides maintaining a sustainable supply of food, shelter, and health services, he said the place needs vocational training facilities where inmates can acquire skills, even as he called on individuals, groups and government agencies to offer assistance.