Women in queue receiving relief items from the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed worry over the lack of access to safety and food for thousands following camp closure in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
In a statement by ICRC, the development is making living condition very difficult for affected persons as many lack water, food, shelter and safety.
“The situation of these families is alarming, as they are already unable to provide for themselves, we call on all parties to the conflict to protect human life and dignity and to facilitate humanitarian aid to reach those in need”, ICRC head of delegation in Nigeria Yann Bonzon said while describing the situation as worrisome.
“The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, the Kampala Convention ratified by Nigeria in 2012, says states have the primary responsibility to protect and assist displaced people”, Bonzon noted.
According to the statement, ICRC and the Nigerian Red Cross have provided essential household items to Nearly 20,000 people across the northeast part.
One of the affected person, Jummai Mohammad and a mother of 10 who left the Bakassi camp in Maiduguri after it closed late last year and returned to her ancestral home in Gwoza said they were still living in fear.
“Many are fleeing the bush for safety, we get food and firewood in the bush, but we are afraid that armed men will take us, kill us, rape us, so we don’t go. We struggle to provide for our families”, she lamented.
Reporting by Hadiza Abdulrahman; editing by Muzha Kucha