Namu: More like concentration camp
Sectarian crises in Nasarawa South senatorial district have displaced scores of Assakio natives who have fled to Namu in Qua’an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State for refuge since last September. If the crises dealt a fatal blow on victims, the outbreak of cholera in the camp, dilemma of pregnant women delivering in the camp, and agonies of nursing mothers striving to survive harsh conditions in a strange land have made the lives of victims messier, reports
THE Nasarawa State sectarian crises between the Ombatse and Alago militia in Obi and Lafia Local Government Areas of the state forced thousands of its inhabitants into refugee camps in the neighbouring Plateau State. The over 6, 000 Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs) from the crises areas of Obi and Assakio and the outlying towns of Lafia, moved to Namu village in Qua’an Pan LGA of the state for refuge. They are currently camped in houses in the village which was recently ravaged by cholera outbreak.
The refugees had by Tuesday, November 26, spent 72 days in other people’s residences in Namu, living in difficult conditions, beginning from September 14, 2013.
Weekly Trust gathered that the experience has left the victims battling shortages of food, water, shelter and clothing.
Those worst hit are the nursing mothers in Namu. A good number of infants in the camp are malnourished. Also, nursing mothers in the town complained of lack of food.
Family heads have decided to work on farms around Namu and its environs, while some have moved as far as Lafia to work and support their families in the camps.
Again, women and their children labour all day to find means of livelihood.
A nursing mother, Shattu Hamza said, “I gave birth to my baby in the clinic six weeks ago. They will soon discharge me because my husband has no money to take care of me and the baby. He returned to Assakio, but found his farm destroyed. My baby is sick and I don’t have money to take her to the hospital.
“She has had diarrhoea for 10 days now. And she has rashes on her neck and head. I don’t even have enough food to feed myself and my baby and I manage what has been provided by our host and authorities in Namu. We are grateful to our host and Plateau State Government for their assistance.
“If you look at my baby, his body has shrunk. I have taken him to the clinic and doctors prescribed drugs for me and the baby, but we don’t have money to buy the drugs. We lost all our belongings during the crisis; I don’t have money to buy some of the recommended products for me and my baby. My husband is trying all his best to feed us. I only pray and leave everything to the Almighty God,” she consoled herself.
Another nursing mother, Hauwa Jamilu, said, “I delivered my baby October 5, 2013, at Ola Hospital in Namu. I lost a lot of blood and my husband spent N9, 610. Initially Zahila, my baby was healthy and she was vaccinated, but due to the harsh conditions that we face here, she has rashes and frequent high fever. She doesn’t sleep and has lost weight.
“When I took her to the hospital, my breast was examined and after the test; they said the problem is not from the breast. The doctor asked me to eat nutritious foods and enough water. We intend to take little Zahila to Lafia, but we don’t have money. My major challenge now is that we sleep on the ground, I spread my wrapper on the ground to lay her on it and about eight of us are in one room. We don’t have enough food. My husband is a farmer and usually goes to Lafia to work, after two or three days, he comes back and brings the little food he gets for us,” she lamented.
A senior nurse in one of the health centers, including the primary health care, who spoke on condition of anonymity told Weekly Trust that when the refugees came in the first instance, Qua’an Pan council provided health facilities for all of them, including pregnant women, infants and nursing mothers.
The source said of the 556 women who booked for antenatal, only 48 delivered in the clinic. She said the health center referred about 20 other pregnant women to other hospitals that have more professionals.
The Chief Administrator of the
Ola
Hospital in Namu, Sister Martin Deppores said of all the pregnant women among the refugees, none had a caesarean operation, as most of them delivered by themselves.
A mother of eight orphans, Jamila Lawal said “as mothers in Namu camp, we are sleeping on top of a mat given by the LGC. Cholera has subsided, but the health and sanitary conditions are very bad, because 11 of us sleep in one room. In the night you hear some of us coughing and there is the tendency of being infected with other communicable diseases and food is not sufficient for us. The pit toilet we are using in our house is full. We go out into the bush and the edge of the rock to excrete.”
Another challenge, according to Jamila, “is that we have become like slaves in Namu. As I talk to you now, five of my children go out to the market and sell people’s goods as well as cooked food, fruits and pure water on contract, especially on market day, while some young boys go to the yam market and work. Others sweep or render other services to the marketers and in return they give them broken tubas of yam to take home. For those who hawk, if they have a good sale, they are paid N100 daily, but if the sale is poor they pay them N50 only.
“Most of our husbands go to the farm around Namu or go back to Nasarawa State to find means of livelihood, and you know, among us there are widows. I and other women taking refuge here now find something doing to earn a living. Some women now sell water, and a drum is N100 only and it would take a person 10 to 15 buckets before you fill a drum. Some peel Egusi and groundnuts. A bag is N100, while others work for dealers of groundnut cake known as kuli- kuli. Some women wash plates at some local restaurants and houses of privileged people around the area. Our children don’t go to school.
“We lack drinking water as the borehole releases water once a week. We only rely on wells and streams for our water needs,” she added.
An aged widow, Effang Ebanza, with five orphans, whose left arm was dislocated in the course of collecting relief materials in Namu, said, “I was on the queue trying to receive my share of food items by the authorities. In the process some people pushed me. My left arm got dislocated. I have now turned to a beggar, because I have lost all my siblings, only few of my late husband’s people live here with me in Namu”.
Galadiman Assakio said “we need urgent assistance of food and drugs for our children and women, because the people and government of Plateau State have done enough to support us. They have accommodated and fed our people, we really appreciate it, but because of our large number the situation is now getting out of hand.
“Governor Umaru Tanko Al - Makura has visited us once and promised to resettle us back home, but to my surprise, we were called to Lafia for relief materials only to be given nine pieces of zinc, three bags of cement and N30,000 only, for the rebuilding of my house. Is Al- Makura really serious about our return to Assakio? Is he aware of the humanitarian condition of his people? What is his government doing about the people who killed us and destroyed our property with impunity and are now moving on the streets without any form of remorse?”, the Galadima asked.
“We want to go back to Assakio, but we cannot resettle on an empty land, we can’t continue to live in such conditions, let the government take our case serious please and please. I am calling on the government to urgently assist the refugees and make a genuine effort to rebuild our houses so that we can return home,” he said.
Earlier reports credited to the Executive Secretary of Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency ( NASEMA), Dr. Abdullahi Idris, claimed that the people who ran to Namu in September had returned to their settlements in Nasarawa State. Idris told reporters that Nasarawa State Deputy Governor, Dameshi Luka had on September 27, led armed soldiers and policemen to Assakio to resettle the returning displaced persons, as they had all been treated and were doing well.
Leader of the refugees and Madaki of Assakio, Alhaji Adamu Ebenya, told Weekly Trust that “we heard some media reports that Assakio community had returned to their settlements. We don’t know why politicians are playing politics with people’s lives. Thousands of our people are still living in Namu. We want to return to our land, but all our houses were destroyed during the crisis, even trees were all cut down, and the perpetrators had also promised to destroy whatever we build in our land. We cannot go back and resettle on empty space”.
Only last week Qua’an Pan LGA distributed household toiletries to 107 nursing mothers and charged them to maintain personal hygiene and observe environmental sanitation.
Weekly Trust learnt that Namu had challenges of drinking water before the arrival of the refuges. With the IDPs, the situation has worsened. The state government cleaned some wells and revamped water supply in Namu. It was gathered that the main borehole which has seven fetching points, however, supplies water once a week.
The operator of the borehole, Mikaila Yahaya, said “we release the water once a week, every Saturday, because we have the problem of electric power supply. Our generator is not working for lack of battery; we are now using solar power to produce enough water in the tank. We use the remaining days of the week to gather the water from the ground to the tank and reserve Saturday for supply and we only release the water for three to four hours every week.”
Responding to the water challenge in Namu, Plateau State Commissioner for Water Resources, Idi Waziri said his visit was aimed at assessing the condition of Namu town and analyse the next step to take as the state government had cleaned many wells as well as revamped the main source of water. “We are working toward finding a lasting solution to the problem,” he said.