Special Report: Internally displaced persons in Gubio camp claim government is not keeping its promise

“Instead of helping the real victims of the insurgency, the Borno State government is giving preference to the surrendered and repentant insurgents, who are being given humanitarian assistance and services, such as good accommodation, food and the means to sustain their livelihoods.

“While they are getting special care and services, we are not which is extremely unfair,” said Abubakar Gonimi, a resident of Gubio internally displaced persons’ camp.

Gonimi was reacting to the government’s distribution of money and relief items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Gubio camp in preparation for their so-called imminent resettlement to Gamboru Ngala.

The men have been promised ₦‎50,000 and the women ₦25,000, as well as and relief items, including food and other essential goods, which camp residents say is not enough.

The camp was supposed to be closed by December 31 last year but it remained open. This time it was supposed to be shut on Saturday, December 10. But there are still people living there.

And many of them are in despair because they say the government should arrange humanitarian aid for them while they are still in the camp because the living conditions are appalling and they have not even been told when or where they will be resettled.

Dunoma Abubakar, a resident, told RNI that the reason they were so eager to leave the camp was because they were experiencing serious humanitarian crises, such as starvation, no work, inadequate healthcare services and basic social amenities, and no schooling for their children.

On Thursday, November 24, after visits from government officials and politicians from their hometown, buses arrived to take IDPs from the Marte Local Government Area back to their ancestral homes.

Abubakar said no government officials or senators from Gamboru Ngala had been to visit their people in the camp – and neither had they done anything to address the plight of their people.

“Even though the government has started distributing food and other essential items, as well as the cash to support us when we leave, it is not enough. Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum said last year when it was announced the IDP camps would be closed that the men would receive ₦100,000 and the women ₦50,000. But he has not kept his promise. Now the men are getting ₦50,000 and the women ₦25,000. We don’t know why and we think it is unfair.

“The total amount of money that has been provided for us is not sufficient for us and our families. Some people have five to six children – others even more.

“The government has not disclosed where we will be resettled and has not provided vehicles to transport us. The fare from Maiduguri to Gamboru Ngala is about ₦5,000 because of the hike in the fuel price and the bad condition of the road.”

Abubakar said the remaining IDPs were pleading with the government to come to their aid.

“We need food, healthcare services and basic social amenities. The conditions under which we live are appalling. The government needs to help us now while we are still in the camp. We want to go back to our hometown but until we are resettled, we need help here and now.”

Abubakar Gonimi said: “We really thank God that now it’s time for us to leave this camp. It has been a bitter experience living here and we have had to face a lot of challenges and hardships ranging from lack of food to no sustainable work and a lack of adequate healthcare services, among other basic social amenities. The government is not doing enough to address the humanitarian crises we are suffering.

“We don’t even know where we are going to be resettled and no one has told us whether our homes have been renovated or rebuilt. We are just living in the dark. No one tells us anything.

“I received ₦50,000 to support my family. But that will not sustain us because I have a huge family, with one wife and more than 10 children. The food that was distributed included one gallon of cooking oil, one bag of maize, one cartoon of spaghetti or macaroni and one 50kg bag of rice. That’s all.”

Gonimi said the government should ensure that there would be shelters, food and other essential items, including work, at the location where they would be resettled.

“Whether we live in a camp or the place where we will be resettled, we will still suffer hardships. We keep hearing stories about how returnees are also suffering in their resettled communities.

“We need humanitarian support from the government, which seems to be giving preference to the surrendered and repentant insurgents, who are being given humanitarian assistance and services, such as good accommodation, food and the means to sustain their livelihoods.

“But we are the real victims of the insurgency. While they are getting special care and services, we are not which is very unfair.”When RNI visited the camp it was evident that many women and children, in particular, needed humanitarian aid. Some of the residents were dismantling their temporary shelters, preparing to vacate the camp.

Falmata Bukar told RNI that, since the government had begun preparations to close the camp the week before, she was very disturbed because she did not know where she and her eight children were going to stay.

“We need humanitarian aid here as well as in the locations where we will be resettled. Because we have nothing, we will continue to suffer when we return to our hometowns if we do not get help from the government or non-governmental organisations (NGOs). That means we and our small children will continue to suffer.”

Ya Dumba, an elderly displaced woman, said: “I have been living in Gubio camp for so many years. As an elderly woman it has been exceedingly difficult to endure the challenges and hardships. Sometimes, I get money or food from younger individuals within and outside the camp because I am old. But, unfortunately, I didn’t get the ticket to collect the cash support and food because when the government officials came to the camp I was not here. So, I am waiting patiently and I am optimistic that I will get the ticket after they finish distributing relief materials to people from other local government councils.”

She said it was exactly one year and seven months since the governor had distributed a card or tickets for all IDPs within Gubio camp.

“He [Zulum] promised to return us to our respective hometowns but, since then, we haven’t seen or heard from him or any other government representatives and they have not made any effort to resettle us until now.

“The government has not taken any serious measures to resettle us, such as providing free buses or vehicles to transport us and neither have they reconstructed or renovated houses and critical infrastructures in our hometowns. That’s why most of us are now struggling to rent a house in the city or in our various hometowns because most of our houses were destroyed by the insurgents.”

Falmata Abba, another displaced woman from Gamboru Ngala, told RNI: “I live in Gubio camp with my four children. The government has put in all the necessary measures and preparations to close the camp but we are stuck here waiting for a ticket to collect cash support and relief materials for when we leave the camp. I don’t have a place to stay within the city, so I don’t have any other option than to go back to where I came from, which is Gamboru town. But we need the money and the relief materials before we can vacate the camp. And I’m still waiting.”

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO