Plateau killings: 4 IDPs die in camps as NGO raises alarm over living conditions
- The aftermath of the recent killings in Plateau state has witnessed a rise in the number of people in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps
- Four have reportedly died in the camps in the past few days
- While two were health related, the other two were due to an accident
A report by This Day indicates that four IDPs from the recent herdsmen attacks in some parts of Plateau state have died in camps.
According to the report, while two were health related, the other two were due to an accident which occurred outside the camp.
70-year-old Dachollom Bature was said to have died on Sunday, July 1, at Riyom Mini Depot camp after battling an undisclosed ailment. The camp reportedly occupies 6,000 persons; 90% of which are women and children, facing poor sanitary conditions.
Although Bature allegedly took ill before getting to the camp, his health was believed to have degenerated in the camp due to inadequate medical care, the camp being one of the most neglected.
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On Monday, July 2, two persons died in the same camp in Riyom in an accident involving two motorcycles which had a head-on collision.
A camp official, Jane Tok, revealed that the two were in a hurry to find means of survival for their families in the camp. She said one was returning from where he had gone to hustle for some money to provide for his family, while the other was going out for the same purpose when their motorcycles had head-on collision very close to the camp.
Both Samson Yohanna, 33, and Gabriel Markus, 35, died instantly, Tok disclosed.
Same day, an 82-year-old woman reportedly slumped and died at an IDP camp in Ban, Heipang, Barkin Ladi council area after a surveillance helicopter flew over the camp with a loud noise. The deceased, Nandis Ishaku, reportedly collapsed and died at the loud sound of the helicopter. She was believed to be hypertensive and lacked medical care while in the camp.
Most of the IDP camps in the state are allegedly faced with the worse sanitary, medical and humanitarian conditions for human habitation.
The situation, a local non-governmental organisation, Women and Children in Community Development Initiative in Nigeria (WOCCI), fears could lead to severe disease outbreaks if not checked.
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Managing director of the NGO, Edwina Mang, particularly warned on the health of women and children who constitute the larger populations in most camps.
She said: “You could see that they don’t have good sanitation facilities, safe drinking water or even good places to sleep. This is already a threat to human health, especially for the children who are most likely to play around carelessly and use their hands to eat without washing. Diarrhea is eminent!”
Mang requested the state and local governments to quickly upgrade the camps to forestall any “medical crisis.” She also appealed for the establishment of a clinic aside the provision of water and sanitation facilities for all the IDP camps.
Recently, Red Cross had disclosed that there are nearly 8,000 IDPs in just five camps, and about 15 camps exist across the three council areas affected by the recent crisis in the state.
According to the Red Cross report, all the camps it visited are practicing open defecation due to lack of toilet facilities, except only one.
“This is a great challenge as this is likely to result to severe diarrhea, which if not properly managed can result to cholera," the report said.
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Meanwhile, Governor Simon Lalong on Sunday, July 1, said those who perpetrated the criminal attacks on some communities in the state are being arrested and will be prosecuted.
Lalong made the statement at the mid-term thanksgiving and prayers for Plateau state organised by a new generation church in Jos.
He urged citizens of the state to “use these moments of great trials as an opportunity to unite and support government’s efforts at restoration.”
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Source: Legit.ng
