Internal Displaced persons (IDPs) in Kutara, Jaipe camp in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, have decried the lack of food, social amenities and government support.
The Chairman of the camp, Mr Alakirawa Madugu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, called on the public, Federal and State governments to come to their aid.
He said that for over 8 years, the camp has been facing so many challenges of life, ranging from lack of food and social amenities.
“We in this camp have been facing welfare challenges, no clean water, no electricity, and no good medical facilities. We lived from hand to mouth for several years now.
“We beg to eat and feed our families.Thank God for some missionaries that come once in a long while and assist us with little food and clothing materials.
“Though the villagers here in Kutara have been amazing, some of them released few farm lands for some of us to farm and this has been very helpful,” Madugu said.
He said that some government officials from the state had visited the camp before now and made promises of improving their welfare, but to no avail.
Madugu appealed to relevant authorities to provide essential amenities to the people to reduce the pains and agonies they were going through.
Also speaking, Mr Matthew Auta, the Reverend of the Chapel (church) in the camp lamented the living conditions of the people in the camp.
While appreciating the missionaries, Auta pleaded with the government to come to their aid to alleviate the people’s suffering.
Ishaya Akidarju, a medical personnel at the camp’s clinic told NAN that funding has been a major challenge for the running of the clinic.
He said that the small clinic lacked the necessary equipment and drugs to function effecivley.
Akindrju said “we find it difficult to get drugs, even common paracetamol. We need malaria drugs and mosquito nets to protect the people in the camp.
“The drugs supplied by the missionaries from outside are usually not enough and comes once or twice in a year,“he said.
Akidarju called for assistance from government, NGOs and the general public to help the IDPs with food to curb malnutrition which was a major problem in the camp.
A member of the camp, Mariamu Bitrus said she has been sick for some weeks now, but cannot go to the hospital outside the camp because she does not have the money.
Bitrus said that even if she has the money, it will be used to buy food for her family because they have not eaten for almost two days now.
NAN reports that the Kutara IDPs camp built in 2015 by some missionaries from the U.S.A. and Switzerland, comprised 72 houses, a store and a clinic.
(NAN)
