Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) occupying the Abagana IDP camp, in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, have called on the state and federal government to establish a police post close to the camp for security of their lives.
The manager of Abagana IDP camp, Mr. Iliagh Terhile, made this call on Tuesday, while speaking to journalists at the camp premises in Makurdi.
Terhile lamented that since the last attack on the camp community, in which seven people were killed by suspected armed herdsmen some months back, they can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.
He recalled that after the incident, some of the IDPs fled the camp to other places but were forced to return to the camp as a result of hunger and lack of accommodation for them in town.
He said they have continued to live in fear hence the need to build a police post to enable police officers respond swiftly in case of any emergencies.
“The security of the camp is not guaranteed. We want government to provide a security post close to the camp to be able to respond to any emergency or eventualities.
“I sleep here in the camp but we have not been sleeping with our two eyes closed. When herdsmen attacked this area some months back and some of our IDPs were killed, some had to flee but after a while returned to camp because they have nothing to eat out there,” he said.
Asked if the camp would be closed anytime soon, Terhile said “the issue of camp closure is a complex one. The security of the IDPs is not guaranteed now if they return to their ancestral home.
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“If they must return, security measures must be put in place at their various communities. They also have to be helped with finance and seedlings else, you would have just succeeded in breeding criminals.
“The psychological wellbeing of the IDPs should also be addressed and managed before they are reintegrated into the society to avoid enmity and violence among them,” he said.
Mr. Terhile who listed lack of food and some Water, Hygiene, Sanitation, (WASH) supplies as challenges in the camp, said they have cases of infectious diseases like ring worm, scabies, diarrhea, among others.
“Our common challenge now is food supply. Most of the IDPs don’t have money of their own and cannot afford bathing or washing soaps. The population can’t even access farmlands and some of them are from Nasarawa state. Their major challenge is for them to return to their ancestral homes to continue with their lives and this can only happen when their security is guaranteed.
“Most times especially during farming seasons, some tried going back to farms but the herdsmen would always come and feast on their produce at the end of the farming season during harvest.”
He further disclosed that no fewer that 28 IDPs, including 20 adults and eight children, have died at the Abagana camp, between 2018 and now.
While soliciting for better health care for the IDPs, particularly women and children, Terhile who could not tell the number of new births in the camp since it was established in 2018, said 30 women are currently nursing new born babies and many others are pregnant.
