Church camps 900 Boko Haram victims in Edo

An Internally Displaced Persons camp with over 900 victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country has been uncovered in Edo‎ State.

It was gathered that most of the IDPs in the camp, located in a remote community in Edo South senatorial district of the state, were children between the ages of four months and 20 years.

It was ‎learnt that the camp, which originally serves as a centre for the needy and founded by the International Christian Centre for Mission, had provided food and shelter for the IDPs since 2013.

The camp covers a large expanse of land and has several blocks of rooms and halls, most of which were made of wood, serving as classrooms and bedrooms for the displaced persons.

It was gathered that the refugees included men, women and children whose families were killed and homes burnt by the insurgents.

The ‎camp, it was also learnt, depends on a generator to provide its own electricity and water.

When our correspondent visited the camp on Friday, most of the children seen receiving lessons from the makeshift classrooms, while some the them, who had been infected with chicken pox, were quarantined according to gender.

Some of the victims, who recounted their ordeal, said they lost all they had to the insurgents, who also attacked them in caves where they had initially sought refuge.

‎One them, Tani Philemon, stated that she had been abducted by the insurgent from her home, in Gwoza Local Government Area of Bornu State, but escaped miraculously after several day of fasting.

She said, “Boko Haram attacked us in our village and we ran to the mountains. But they followed us and killed some people, including my husband. At the mountain, there was no food; we were just eating leaves.

“I search for my dead husband and buried him by just putting some sand on his corpse.‎ After two days at the mountain, they (Boko Haram) came and abducted me and my children and took us to Gwoza where we spent about three weeks.

“After three days, we fasted and prayed. Suddenly, God made them (insurgents) fall asleep and we managed to escape by climbing a wall; we ran to Cameroon. We spent three days without food and water

“But God sent some people to us who took us to Yola (Adamawa State) and when we got there, we heard of a man of God who helps people in need. He was the one who paid for our transportation to this place (camp).‎”

‎The Overseer of the ICC, Solomon Folorunsho, told journalists, during a visit to the camp, that the IDPs were brought to the facility from Borno and Adamawa states, through Jos, the Plateau State capital.

‎Folorunsho said the displaced persons depended on donations from faith-based organisations, institutions and individuals.