Internally Displaced Persons of the recently demolished DURUMI camp Abuja, have appealed to the Federal Government to come to their aid by resettling them into new camps.
Terrorist activities in the North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, forcing thousands whose communities were destroyed by the insurgents to relocate
A sizeable number of these internally displaced persons found their way to Abuja in search of refuge and have been here for years
Make shift IDP camps sprung up in areas like Durumi , Kuje, Kuchingoro and have in time been recognised by INGOS and other charity organisations who provided social amenities like schools, health care centres, and water systems in these camps.
In fact by 2021, the FCTA recorded over twenty six thousand IDPs resident in the FCT.
The FCT Authorities have had to deal with the influx of undesirable elements into the capital city with criminal activities on the rise
And focus had been drawn to IDP camps as harbouring there criminal elements
That coupled with the fact that insecurity is still very much an issue across the country has
Last December, demolitions were carried out by the FCTA just before Christmas to curb the rise in alleged criminal activities in the Nation’s capital .
The IDP Camp in Durumi was one of the areas affected
TVC news was at the DURUMI camp to asses the situation .
The IDPs have been left to find for themselves, no food, no shelter and no help in any form.
Rebecca Isa a widow who now lives in this rapidly constructed shelter within the demolished camp with her sister and her children .
She tells us that surviving has become much harder for her and her family as food and water have become harder to source for. (Spoke in Hausa)
Her nephew Lawal Bala Sambo , who is a mechanic at the camp laments that they fled to Abuja with hopes of finally having peace but it appears they were mistaken in their projections.
This elderly couple in the camp who were also affected by the incident, Ibrahim Warda and his wife Liaetu Ibrahim are appealing to the Federal Government to help get their lives back in order . (Spoke in Hausa)
We find liaetu sowing sacks to cover their temporary shelter once it has been built
This new shelter will be where the couple and their two children will reside
This incident hasonly added to their worries, their two children are in school and they will be unable to pay for their fees, this session due to the incident .
Adamu Abdullahi a builder, is helping to rebuild shelters for IDPs
He is not happy with the situation and would have loved to relocate but he feels the crisis back home is yet to abate .
Isa Umar is a nurse in the Durumi camp
He is angry at insinuations that the camp harboured criminals which is why it was demolished
He insist that if the FCTA was suspicious about their activities it should have carried out investigations rather than demolishing the camp
His argument that the land is not Federal Government land but was given by an individual for IDPs to settle until there is peace in the Northeast may explain why they also ran foul.
All lands in the FCT belong to the Federal Government with districts already demarcated for specific funtions
Most of these IDPS come from Gwoza a local government area in Borno state which is known to be the Centre of the crisis.
We contacted the FCTA to get their side of the story but we got no response .
We were able to get an interview from the Director General FCT Emergency Management Agency FEMA , Abbas Garba Idris
While he sympathizes with the situation the IDPs find themselves,he points out that as far as the authorities are concerned there are no existing camps in Abuja
He describes where the IDPs currently reside are chosen settlements.
Mr Idris presents a compelling argument noting that according to the KAMPALA CONVENTION, such arrangements as camps can only be established very close to scene of the incidents which in this case is the Northeast
Due to this, the Authorities, he says, moved IDPs from the FCT back to the Northeast, but some refused to leave
So far, the IDP Camp in DURUMI was singled out for demolition due to investigation carried out by the authorities .
The FEMA chief urges IDPs to fully co-operate with the security agencies and not act in ways that wouldcompromise the safety of the Federal Capital, and while they are free to stay in the FCT, they can’t establish camps.
But these remain semantics, the reality on ground is that if the FCTA does not provide measures to provide relief for the IDPs suddenly left homeless, a humanitarian crisis may slowly be brewing.
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