Bayelsa IDPs express mixed feelings as govt shuts down camps

There was mixed feeling at the Oxblow lake camp and other camps across Bayelsa States among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as the state government began the shutting down of camps.

The Guardian gathered that the final evacuation of the over 12, 000 IDPs made many of the displaced emotional as they packed their belongings for the journey home.

Some of them, who spoke with our correspondent, expressed appreciation to the state government, led by Governor Douye Diri, while some ask for packages to take home to help them adjust before they can begin a new life in their various communities and homes.

Mrs. Helen Olowu said: “Let the governor help us, our father is Douye Diri, let him assist us as we go home. We cannot go home without garri or rice, even if is some cups, at least something that we can carry home to begin our life, let him help us, we need his help.”

Another IDP, Favour Christopher, thanked the government, especially Douye Diri, for his support, saying: “As we are going, I just want him to help some of us because as we are going, we don’t have anything,we are just going empty handed, no sharing of anything, people are even angry so I want him to come to our aid.”

However, some children feel they need more time at the camps because of the quality of food. They eat twice a day and had freedom to explore new relationships in the camp.

Seven years old Joshua Adaka, said: “I don’t want to go home yet, they should extend it to maybe next year because I am having a nice time here, the food, my friends, I don’t want to miss any. I am not going anywhere yet, I want to stay here.”

The camp coordinator and a member of the state flood mitigation and management task force, Ebiwou Koku-Obiyai, said the state government was gradually closing to return people to normal life and to enable government move to the next phase of action for the citizens.

MEANWHILE, as part of efforts to curtail fuel scarcity which had almost paralysed commercial activities in the state and to ameliorate the suffering of people, the state government, yesterday, received a barge of 410,000 litres of Primium Motor Spirits (PMS) .

The Guardian reports that though the flood water in the state is gradually receding, but the damaged done to the roads across the state make it difficult for fuel and other essential products to come into the state by road, a situation that caused fuel to be sold between N300 and N800 a litre.

Receiving the barge at Swali Jetty, yesterday, on behalf of the state government, the state Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Dr. Ebieri Jones, said efforts were on to ease the scarcity.

He said: “It is a promise fulfilled by the Diri government. He did promise that the state government would barged PMS to the state because of the nature of the East-West road.

“And today, 410,000 litres of PMS has come, so that the price of fuel will go down to government approved price and to also stop the looming danger of black marketing, we are distributing it to some filling stations in Yenagoa and other towns in the state, to sell at government approved rate.”