We want to return home, Abuja IDPs cry out

Victims of Boko Haram attacks camped in Abuja, have appealed to the federal government to intensify efforts to make their places safe so they “can return” to their homes from their temporary abode.

Leader of the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) in Kuchigoro, Abuja, Philemon Emmanuel, made the appeal when officials of National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons visited the facility.

The officials had gone to the camp and others in the Federal Capital Territory to deliver food and non-food items, empowerment and educational materials to the victims. Emmanuel said: “We do appreciate all the efforts to make the camps comfortable for us through the donations and several visits by concerned people from within and outside the country.

“We have been missing home and we will want to beg that government should intensify efforts toward making our places safe so we can return home. “We have been shown that humanity cares for us through the regular gifts we get here, but we have been disconnected from our roots and majority of us here will want to return to our ancestral lands because there is no place like home.”

He also appealed to those coming with gifts to the camp to pay more attention to the medical needs of the victims. “Among the several gifts we have gotten on this camp is the medical clinic donated by the German government, but there are no drugs in the clinic.

“We have a nurse who has volunteered to render free services to us here, but there are no drugs for treating our simple medical challenges that come up from time to time. “Having stayed out here without any gainful employment over the years, we want to appeal to government and those who can assist us to consider us for employment opportunities so that we can return to normal family lives. “We have graduates among us who were engaged in some professional duties before the killers came to ravage our lands and turned us to a people who depend on others to survive.

If such people are employed, we will surely have less tension on the camp.” Earlier, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Sadiya Farouk, had promised that the federal government would continue to partner donor agencies and individuals to help the victims. “Our concern for the provision of durable solutions is to bring to an end those activities that can temporarily or permanently bring about displacement,” she said.

She said government would assist displaced persons to return to their homes “when it becomes possible and safe,” reintegrate them in host communities and resettle or relocate them in safer areas. Ms. Farouk had led the delegation to make similar donations at the Wasa and Durumi camps in the FCT. (NAN)

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