Green Code, a humanitarian non-governmental organisation (NGO), has provided 30 shelters to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Fariya in the Jere Local Government Area of Borno State.
RNI reporter Musa Shettima spoke to some of the recipients.
Alhaji Ali said: “We don’t have a specific place to stay. We move from one place to another because we normally stay on other people’s empty land or sometimes in empty houses but then the owners ask us to leave the space and that’s why we keep changing places.
“We don’t have a permanent place to stay and it is hard to keep changing places. Green Code is the only organisation that has helped us. It has given us shelters for the first time in seven years. And now no one can chase us away.
“We have stayed in many different communities, from some government settlement shelters to open fields and other people’s land or houses. It’s extremely difficult to live this way because we are never at peace. We know that at any time we could be forced to leave.”
Alhaji Ali said sometimes when they could not find a place to stay, relatives helped them out or the government allowed them to stay at a shelter. But, he said, those were not long-term solutions and they suffered because they did not own a shelter that they could call their own.
“I’m happy about this shelter because it will really help to keep us safe.”
Yazara Ali said: “We have never been lucky enough to find a good place. Whenever we settled on someone’s land, they sent us away. We would stay on empty lands but when the owners arrived they told us they needed the land and told us to vacate their property.
“It’s never easy changing places all the time. We thank God because now we will be safe and no one can send us away.”
“For seven years since we were displaced, we have been living in temporary shelters and we were always on the move from one place to another,” said Hassan Jole. “It disrupts your whole life.
“But now that we have been given our own shelters we feel at peace. We hope we will be able to stay here for a long time.”
• Green Code is an NGO that works with rural communities in Nigeria teaching them to be environmentally conscious and helping to eradicate poverty and uphold social rights wherever it can.
It has been working in the country for four years providing humanitarian care. It has partnered with several local and international NGOs to implement people-centred projects ranging from food security to livelihood, human rights, good governance, peace-building/conflict management, reproductive health, nutrition, gender and child protection, environmental management – climate change, forest conservation and waste management – and safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects, including watershed management.
Its mission is to work with poor and socially excluded people – and the government – to promote environmental and human rights protection in communities in Nigeria, aimed at poverty reduction through education, information sharing, research, training and direct impact intervention.
AISHA SD JAMAL
