As the number of persons across Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) Camps in Kaduna state continue to grow by the day due to bandit attacks, victims at Angwan Zawu are appealing to the government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their rescue.
The attacks stretched the limited camps and plunged the victims into abject poverty.
They made the plea when Daily News 24 visited the Camp located at the outskirt of Goni-Gora in Kaduna state to feel their pulses.
Angwan Zawu, the head camp of all the IDPs camps at Goni-Gora, houses over 1000 persons.
A yet to be completed Community Secondary School building is being used as the Camp.
The occupants escaped the January 6th, 2020 attack on a closeby community when about 58 persons were kidnapped.
They have been at the camp for about two years.
The victims, who are predominantly farmers, are disturbed as they find themselves in a predicament.
They have lost all hope of returning to their homes anytime soon.
Some of them who spoke to Daily News 24 narrate their ordeal.
One of them, Pastor John Haruna, a father of six, said that life in Agwan Zawu IDPs camp has not been easy.
As a famous farmer in his village, he said he could feed himself, his wife and six children properly and take other responsibilities, but now he is disabled as nowhere to farm.
“What we can do is just to be thanking God that we are alive today, even though there are a lot of challenges we are faced with as IDPs. Challenge of Food, Clothes, lands to farm.
Am a farmer, we think when we come, we will be farming so that we can save when we farm, but still, even in the bush of the Goni-Gora, where we can plant, those bandits are there, so we can not cultivate, what am doing now is Okada to help my Family.
“Before, if one says I can do Okada, I will say no, but because of what happened. There has not been helping from government, it was only once that government helped us, and since then, no any help from them again”.
“We want them to help me because no farm, no work, and if we could not go to the farm, those my children will not go to school. In my village, I can farm about 200 bags of corn, beans, Soya beans and sell them, and we also eat from them.
“I won’t be bothered with my Children school’s fees, but no farm, no work, so if govt can come to our aid by providing us with secured land here”. He said.
Martha Steven Yeri, like every other displaced person in the Camp, discovers the camp through a relative who had to plead with the Sarkin Goni-Gora, Yusuf John Doma, to provide them with the accommodations in his community upon hearing their plights.
“I got to know about this place through my uncle who got married here. he told the king of Goni-Gora, that if they can help him to give us here that we are in here, so with the help of the king, they now accepted and gave us this place
“Life here in the Camp has not been easy because ever since we came here, food has been a big challenge for us.
“In our community, we used to farm, we had a lot of food to eat, we even sold out some, but now, we are here we have nothing to do, the food we don’t have, clothes, we don’t have, if not for people, NGOs, that come to our rescue, they help us with food items, clothes, at times we get sick, some NGOs will come and give us drugs, run test for us, live in this Camp has not been easy for us.”
“Our worry here is food. We need land since we cannot return to our community. At least if they give us secured land, we can be able to farm. We have not received any help from govt, it was just once from the federal govt, but for the state, we didn’t receive”, She said.
She said they were taken to go and learn some skills for two weeks by some NGOs, but like Oliver twist, she pleaded to them to help them continue with the talent and provide them with materials.
Like a community that leaders head, Angwan Zawu IDPs Camp has leaders who see the affairs of the Camp.
The Secretary of the Camp, Mr Emmanuel S. Yeri, told Daily News24 they are closed to a thousand as the figures increase daily.
He said for over two years now, and the state government was at the Camp once-promising them of assisting them, saying thank God for Churches in their area and elsewhere, NGOs, Individuals among other Non- Governmental organizations who have been coming to their rescue.
Moving around the Camp in the early hours, this reporter met some children having classes in a building like a school.
When asked, Mr Yeri said, “when we came in, I had it in mind I will start gathering the Children that were being displaced since they don’t have any access to school again, to organize lessons for them, then, an organization now came and visit us and we laid it to them, then one NGO took it upon themselves to sponsor.”
He, however, pleaded to well-meaning government Nigerians to help provide learning Materials to the Children as they are limited due to an increase in the number of children enrolling in the school to help aid the learning of the children.
