Starvation: Borno IDPs Turn Street Beggars

Women of the Bakassi Internally Displaced Persons Camp have resorted to street begging, housemaids, while the men fetch firewoods to sell in a bid to escape biting hunger.

Expressing their frustration at the Bakassi IDPs  camp during the distribution of baby care kits to pregnant women and nursing mothers by the National Commission For Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMI) , the IDPs said the camp had been in shortage of food for the past one month, adding that the situation forced them to look for desperate means of survival.

Bakassi IDPs camp which is one of the largest camps in Borno State presently hosts 21, 224 IDPs among whom are 3, 201 pregnant women and 2, 254 nursing mothers.

According to reports women now seek permission to leave the camp for street begging and other menial jobs.

“There is no food here. As of 3 pm today most of us have not taken both breakfast and lunch notwithstanding that we are not fasting.  We thank God for these items brought to us by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons. My appeal to them is to ensure that the items enter the hands of every one of us before departing the camp,”.

Umar revealed that the camp officials have turned the IDPs into business venture, adding that if the items did get to them through the commision, the camp officials would divert the rest.