{"id":53157,"date":"2024-12-13T12:07:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T11:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/?p=53157"},"modified":"2024-12-13T12:07:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T11:07:13","slug":"displaced-christians-in-borno-state-too-broke-to-celebrate-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/displaced-christians-in-borno-state-too-broke-to-celebrate-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Displaced Christians in Borno State too broke to celebrate Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cost-of-living crisis hits cash-strapped Christians who say it will be a low-key festive season \u2013 in fact, many will not celebrate Christmas at all because they simply do not have the means.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is going to be a low-cost and low-key Christmas for displaced Christians living in Borno State \u2013 if they celebrate the festive season at all.<\/p>\n

They say the cost-of-living crisis has left them empty-handed. Although Christmas is one of the holiest days on the calendar as it celebrates the birth of Christ, they say they do not even have enough food every day \u2013 and there is certainly no money to splurge over the festive season.<\/p>\n

John Orumba is the father of Habila John, a Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) member killed by bandits in Sokoto State. He was one of 300 security operatives who were deployed to the Nigeria\u2019s northwest in February to help curb escalating banditry.<\/p>\n

Orumba lives in an informal camp in the Wulari community in Maiduguri.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my son this year. I am still in mourning. What is there to prepare for when we are struggling to provide even one square meal a day for our families?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was the breadwinner of our family and now he is gone. Since he died, things have turned sour for us. If he were alive, I know he would have made sure we celebrated Christmas, but it looks pretty grim this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way I will be able to celebrate Christmas is if God provides. I will try to buy clothes and food for my family, but even that may be difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son left behind a wife and 10 children. He took care of me and his family. Now, his children and I have to go out to beg for money and food. I am old, but that does not stop me from fending for my son\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will try to celebrate the festivities. But we can only do that with what we have. There will be nothing special because we just can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been staying in this camp for a long time and we are going through a lot. The hardship we face here is beyond anyone\u2019s imagination. Sometimes, we have only water to drink. We often go for days without eating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my son was alive, by this time, he would have bought at least clothes and a pair of shoes for us all and for himself. He would even buy raw meat for soup on Christmas Day. I tried to contribute, but not as frequently,\u201d Orumba said.<\/p>\n

Lydia Habila said: \u201cI\u2019m Habila\u2019s widow. He was killed in Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria when they went to assist security personnel fight the bandits.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince his death, we have been totally dependent on the Almighty. And, it is sad, but we have no means of income to celebrate Christmas. I feel frustrated because I want to bring in money but I do not have the means to start a small business. So, we are definitely not prepared for any festivities this Christmas. In fact, I do not think we will be able to celebrate at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my husband was alive, he made sure we celebrated \u2013 even if all we ate was just a bowl of rice. He would buy clothes for me and the children.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of other widows staying in internally displaced persons\u2019 camps, I am begging the Borno State government for help. We badly need the government to intervene to ease our hardship. We are in dire need of assistance. It is going to be a very low-key Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jummai Moses\u2019 husband was ill this year. He died just two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a widow with five children, two girls and three boys. My husband died two weeks ago and left me with this little one. I gave birth to this baby early in November. My husband passed away two weeks after we were discharged from the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not prepared anything to celebrate Christmas. I am still grieving. I have not even thought about Christmas. I\u2019m sorry to say we will not be celebrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, neither my husband nor I farmed. He was sick and I was pregnant. Had it been different, we would have had plenty to eat. But even before my husband died, we were struggling to feed the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe little food we had was stolen when my husband and I were in hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was alive, we always celebrated Christmas. Most times my husband was not around because he was on the farm. But he always sent us money so that I could buy clothes and food for me and the children. But those days are over.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AYSHA MUSTAPHA KOLOMI\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cost-of-living crisis hits cash-strapped Christians who say it will be a low-key festive season \u2013 in fact, many will not celebrate Christmas at all because they simply do not have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":53158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53159,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53157\/revisions\/53159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}