By Adebayo Animasaun
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Geosciences, Anguldi-Zawan, Jos South LGA, and seven others scattered in the three most affected local governments in Plateau State are not just reminiscent of the traumatised in the society but also a place where one finds fun loving and very sociable souls, who often get out of their shells to enjoy the good side of life.
Worthy of note and emulation is Dalo Emmanuel, a 13-year-old boy who seems to have seen it all in terms of life’s challenges. Tough as life may seem in the camp, Dalo, it does appear, has moved on and decided to build a new life.
When TNG crew visited the camp, most of the campers admitted that though the violence that engulfed the area brought them to ground zero, they were willing to take a second shot at life.
In this report, Dalo’s narrative gives clear insights into the world of children and other dependants living in IDP camps.
The dreadful day:
Bold, friendly, hilarious are the few terms that can best describe young Dalo, who warmed up to the TNG crew, and spoke freely of his ordeals when the killer herdsmen invaded, ransacked, and killed several persons in their village in Ex-land, Gashish district.
Shortly before meeting TNG, Dalo was doing what he loved doing best – playing football with some of his new found friends. He and about six others were enjoying the game when his father, Emmanuel Dido introduced him to our correspondent.
An interview session with the father was nearly completed at the point. The father had only asked Dalo to express his feelings on the death of his sister, and young Dalo caught TNG’s attention with his fluent English and very clear thoughts.
He started, “My name is Dalo Emmanuel, I am from Ex-land. We were planning to leave home for our church’s concert on the day they [killer herdsmen] attacked our village. A sad message came from one of our neighbours that a Berom woman was killed in her farm. So we were instructed to stay at home for a while so that we won’t fall victim of the attacks.”
After waiting for some hours, Dalo said his family headed for the church, stressing that they saw nothing on the road signalling danger was ahead.
He continued; “We got church and started the service. It was when we started the prayer session that some of the youths in the community came to us and said they had caught the person who killed the woman in the farm. Immediately they made the disclosure, we were all advised to go home. And we left church.
“About 10 minutes after we arrived home, we started hearing gunshots everywhere. Unfortunately, my aunt had also just sent my sister, Anatu, on an errand to give our neighbour their tray.”
Anatu had not returned from that errand when the shooting started. And she never made it back. She was trapped at the neighbour’s residence and was attacked alongside the neighbours”.
In an emotion-laden voice, Dalo continued: “At home, we locked ourselves inside. Soon, the Fulanis started burning cars in front of our house. The fire spread to our apartment and we had to soak our blanket in water to cover our body just to survive. It was God that saved us.”
“But the Fulanis gained access to our neighbour’s house and killed my sister. Our neigbour, Mrs Janet, was breastfeeding her baby. They cut the baby, and shot my sister and one of my cousins who accompanied her while she went on the errand.
“There was another young girl who survived after being shot. Her name is Hashda. They asked her to run after she was shot and she made it to grandmother’s house where she got first aid treatment before being taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital. Since that incident, I have not gone to school even though it was not burnt.
‘Life in captivity’
The living condition in the IDP camps is pitiable. From an environment littered with faeces and other stinking waste materials to poorly prepared meals, it is obvious that the welfare of the campers is not getting the utmost attention from government.
The camp administrator, Mr. Alfred Gyang, who did not mince words in highlighting the poor state of things, called on government and its numerous agencies to come to their aid.
Gyang said, “The challenges are enormous. I must acknowledge efforts of the host communities who have been of tremendous assistance to us.The World Health Organization (WHO) is supplying us water in partnership with Plateau State Water Board. They come to supply water in tanks but it doesn’t last more than two days. Being an IDP camp, the rate of consumption is very high. Even if they come twice in a day, people will still need to eat, wash and do some other domestic chores that will make us run out of supply.
“On another hand, the space here is small and can’t be very conducive. The campers defecate around, so we can’t open windows. We are trying to manage and control the situation. People have tried to come in to provide industrial fans because it’s very stuffy when you go in. But we are just managing the situation for now.”
Corroborating the director’s position, a camper said, “This camp is not conducive; they are treating us like slaves. When we came here newly, they fed us in the morning, afternoon and evening. But the story has changed. What we now get is just two square meals. Most times, we take breakfast by 12:30pm and dinner at 9pm.The environment is dirty and stinking.”
The campers also accused the camp management of pilfering donated items meant for them.
“Children in the camps are shortchanged by the mismanagement in camps,” Dalo told TNG. “I don’t sleep in the camp because the whole place is smelling. Everyday, I go to my aunt’s house. I eat and do every other thing here but I go to my aunty’s house to sleep.
“It’s only recently that they started giving us drugs. The drugs they have are even for adults; they don’t have drugs for us.”
Another camper, Janet, who is eight years old, said there is a lot of helplessness in the camp. “People are subjected to serious pains whenever they are sick,” she said.
To buttress little Janet’s point, the camp administrator confirmed that the campers were not served food with balanced diet hence their fragile health conditions.
“We have challenges with proteinous food stuffs; what we have in store is basically carbohydrate food. These include garri, maize and rice. We have lots of children here and a lot of them are malnourished.
“We have limited toilet because this place was built by Geosciences for their national secretariat. Currently, there are only three toilets for men and women. You know a camp where you have 2,674 displaced people, there are times you have six people who want to go to the toilet at the same time. The distress could best be imagined,” Gyang said.
Living above bondage
For Dalo and some other children in the camp, however, the travails of the dastardly crisis cannot stop them from reaching for the stars.
According to statistics made available to TNG by the administrator, Mr. Gyang, the Geosciences camp has a total of 1,593 children and youths (ages 0-18 years). Except for the infants in camp, an interaction by TNG with most of the children showed they all still have lofty dreams and ambitions in life.
“I love to be a doctor. I hate the sight of pains and helplessness that people are subjected to whenever they are sick. I’ve seen quite a lot especially in this camp and that has strengthened me to pursue my ambition with more vigour,” Janet said.
Despite all the challenges, a typical afternoon in the Geosciences camp is also full of life with children engaged in different activities.
The campers, especially the children and teenagers have invented their style of fun with the available resources at their disposal. Indeed, their countenances reflect the immense hope they yet have that the future is bright when they eventually depart the camp.