Plateau: 4 IDPs die in camp

Four Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of the recent herdsmen attacks in parts of Plateau northern Senatorial zone have died while in camp.

The first death was recorded in Riyom Mini Depot camp where nearly 6000 IDPs, 90% women and children are battling poor sanitary conditions among others.

70 years old Dachollom Bature died in the camp last Sunday, July 1, 2018 after battling an unknown sickness.

Although he was sick before getting to the camp, Mr. Bature is believed to have died due to inadequate medical care.

The following day Monday 2nd July, 2018, two people died in the same camp after having a head-on collision on motorcycles.

A camp official, Mrs. Jane Tok, told Daily Times on Wednesday that the two were in a hurry to find means of survival for their families in the camp.

“One had gone out to find some money to provide for his family while the other was going out for same, both on bikes and they both crashed just close to the camp,” she said.

The two identified as Samson Yohanna, 33 and Gabriel Markus, 35 died instantly, said Mrs. Tok.

Same Monday, an 82 years old woman died at an IDP camp in Ban Heipang, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, after a surveillance helicopter flew over the camp.

Identified as Nandis Ishaku, the deceased collapsed and died at the sound of the copter, presumably after recalling the horrors of the killings she witnessed in Nghar village from where she fled with her family.

Source says she was hypertensive and lacked medical care while in the camp.

A local Nongovernmental organization, Women and Children in Community Development Initiative in Nigeria (WOCCI) fears the sad situation could lead to severe disease outbreaks if not attended to.

Managing Director of the NGO, Mrs. Edwina Mang particularly warned on the health of women and children who constitute the larger populations in most camps.

“You could see that they don’t have good sanitation facilities, safe drinking water or even good places to sleep,” she said.

Mrs. Mang who delivered huge humanitarian aid to three camps in Geosciences Bukuru, Riyom and Heipang, all in Plateau northern zone, requested the State and local governments to quickly upgrade the camps to forestall any “medical crisis”.

Already, three diarrhea cases have been reported in the Riyom Mini depot camp.

Although the Riyom LGA Health Department has isolated the affected children for treatment, there are different other medical conditions that need attention.

However, Red Cross findings on Monday showed that there are nearly 8000 IDPs in just five camps out of about 15, across three LGAs in the State.

According to the Red Cross report, apart from just one of the camps, all the camps it visited are practicing open deification due to lack of toilet facilities.

“This is a great challenge as this is likely to result to severe diarrhoea and vomiting which if not properly managed can result to cholera,” the report says.

On their safety needs, most of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sleep on wrappers “spread on bare floor without blankets to cover their bodies to keep warm.”

As a result, “most are down with common cold, malaria and there are some of the IDPs who are diabetic, have high blood pressure and do not have access to drugs and so is posing a great challenge to the individuals and the families,” the Nigeria Red Cross Society said.

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“Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), sleep on wrappers spread on bare floor without blankets to cover their bodies to keep warm.” – Red Cross report