BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI
The recurrent bloodbath in
parts of Guma local
government area of Benue
State has created what looks
like the biggest refugee
situation in the north central
zone of the country.
At the last count, no fewer
than three huge refugee camps
have been established across
the local government area,
with each housing close to
6,000 refugees who fled the
repeated attacks on their
communities and villages by
Fulani herdsmen across Guma
and neighboring Nasawara
State.
When Saturday Vanguard
visited these camps, the
situation on ground was
heartrending and pathetic. At
the Saint Francis Primary
School, Daudu, which houses
over 5,000 displaced Tiv
speaking women, children, the
elderly and youths for
instance, the accommodation
facility has been overstretched
to the extent that the refugees
now sleep in the open which
exposes them to snake and
mosquito bites; yet the
inhabitants are not availed any
proper medical attention.
The appalling situation is made
worse by the lack of toilet
facilities and potable water,
thereby exposing them to
deadly diseases which
according to the displaced
persons has in recent times
claimed close to 50 lives –
mostly women and children.
Recounting their ordeal to
Saturday Vanguard, leader of
the camp, Joseph Ugba who
said he fled the fighting at
Yogbo, lamented that the
health condition of most of the
women, children and the
elderly has continued to
deteriorate owing to the
situation in the camp.
Ugba, who was flanked by
some displaced women,
children and the elderly,
lauded the Guma local
government council Chairman,
Mr. Usa Adii, for his efforts at
ensuring that the displaced
persons were assisted within
available resources. He
however lamented that the
situation on ground in Guma
was beyond the scope of the
state and local government
council.
”You can see the camp for
yourself. We hardly get food to
eat, no water, no drugs even
the accommodation in the
school can hardly take a
quarter of the refugees in this
camp.
”Toilet facilities are not there,
most of us are forced, most
times, to defecate in the open
despite its attendant
consequences on the health of
everyone.
”Maybe this accounts for the
over 50 deaths we have
recorded, which was mostly
among the children and
women in this camp.
We ran from death in our
besieged villages in Yogbo,
Udei, Antei and Ikyer
Development Area of
Nasarawa State but some are
still dying here.
”Our situation is more like that
of a helpless people who have
been abandoned to their fate.
For most of us, it’s as if the
world has turned its back on
us. Our women and children
are dying after we had lost our
houses and farmland to the
invaders.
”We need help because we
actually have nothing to fall
back to. Most of us have been
in this camp for close to two
years. Most of the young men
you find here now move
around Daudu village seeking
for menial jobs to sustain their
families. But how far can that
take anyone in a village like
Daudu?
”Our cry is to the world,
public-spirited individuals and
corporate organisations for
help and assistance because
the number of the displaced
continues to swell by the day
while our villages have been
sacked and desolated.
”We want to go back to our
homes, we cannot continue to
live like this, our children are
no more in school and we
cannot carryout our daily
responsibilities to our families.
For how long will we continue
to live like this?”he queried as
he fought back tears.
Speaking to Saturday
Vanguard on the situation in
his council, Chairman of Guma
Local Government Council,
Hon. Usa Frank Adii, lamented
that his council had been
overwhelmed by the situation.
”Our meagre resources cannot
cope with the heavy refugee
burden, and despite the
assistance from the state
government and all we have
done in the three camps, the
situation still looks pathetic.”
The physically moved Adii also
disclosed that, “the number of
the displaced persons keeps
swelling by the day and if you
go to most of the affected
villages you will not find
anybody there because they’ve
all fled for fear of being killed
by the herdsmen and their
mercenaries.
”What that means is that the
people will in no distant time
be confronted by hunger and
diseases because they cannot
go to their farms anymore and
their children are also not
going to school.
”The truth of the matter is that
the people of Guma need help
and very fast too. We cannot
pretend over our situation
because the state government
and the council have been
pushed to their limits and if
outside assistance does not
come, the consequences could
be far reaching and disastrous
– especially among the
children and women.”
He also urged the Federal
Government to create grazing
routes for Fulani herdsmen
around the country in order to
avert the recurrent crisis and
waste of innocent lives.
In his account, the paramount
ruler of Daudu where the
refugees are camped, Chief
Akaa Dajo, disclosed that the
fighting had created a huge
problem for the town.
Chief Dajo, who corroborated
the story of the displaced
persons, lamented that the
influx of the refugees from
neighboring communities and
Nasarawa State into his
domain could pose a security
risk to the lives and property of
his subjects.
He pleaded with the
international community to
come to the rescue of the
people whom he claimed had
been trooping into the camps
in the last two years.
”The world cannot close its
eyes to the pathetic situation in
Guma. If help does not come
quickly, these people would be
ravaged by diseases and the
implication could be disastrous
to them and the host
communities,” he added.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/how-over-50-women-and-children-died-in-benue-refugee-camp/

This people really need help. I think the best help they can get at this moment is from Gowon the architect of one Nigeria....
Until we realize what we did to our self

SAI BUHARI

What a dissaster. May their soul rest in perfect peace. It's good that GOWON and some of his co leaders that fought BIAFRA are still alive, withnessing todays event. I know that the majority of ordinary middle beltans did not support their leaders then, now, look at how they are suffering for the sin they did not commit. And if nothing is done urgent, this minority muslims will invade the whole of middle belt, turn their land to 'islam', as they use to claim that they're majority in Nigeria.