The decade-long insurgency in Borno State did not only displaced locals to take refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, but many of them left with nothing.
Forty-year-old Hafsat Lawal is one of the IDPs. She narrated her tales in the 83rd edition of HumAngle’s Vestiges of Violence.
Hafsat explained that the war stripped them of their homes, families and properties.
“We fled and left everything behind. Today we are living with no provision for food, water or even toilets,” she said. “They have been constructing toilets since before we came here (resettlement Camp) and still not done.”
Hafsat explained that she had spent over two months in the camp but living inside the camp is excruciating.
She said: “Most of us had to take loans to start a small-scale firewood business to feed ourselves. We get the woods from the bush and sell them for meager amounts ranging from 7 pieces for N100 and sometimes even 6 pieces.
“But two days ago we were chased out of the bush by Boko Haram Insurgents. Now we are forced to patronize wet wood in town and break them into pieces and sell.”
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Whenever someone falls sick in the camp, they would take them to a nearby hospital in Bama town, Hafsat explained. In some cases, they are referred to Maiduguri where doctors scold them for not coming on time, and sometimes they refuse to admit them for medical attention.
“Nobody checks on us,” she lamented. “We depend on God alone to provide for us. We are on our own.”
