It is just a few minutes after a heavy downpour with many Internally Displaced Persons warming themselves in their makeshift because of the cold weather. But Hadiza Ahmed defies this biting cold, moving around desperately to see how she could raise some money to secure the release of her 12-year-old daughter who has been in captivity for the last month.
The daughter was kidnapped by bandits along with three other children while fetching firewood for her mother at the nearby bush.
Hadiza, a mother of seven, was a resident of Gidan Alasan in the Rarah district of Rabah Local Government Area of Sokoto State before they were displaced by bandits two years ago. She and her family are currently living at Rabah Stadium Camp in Rabah LGA of Sokoto State.
Narrating her ordeals to our reporter, she said the bandits had earlier demanded N200,000 which was raised through donations from relatives and other members of the community.
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But when the money was taken to them, they rejected it and raised the amount to N500,000.
“We came here from Gidan Alasan village. We were displaced by bandits.
“I am in serious agony right now because my daughter has been in captivity for the last four weeks and we don’t have the money to secure her release.
“I sent her to the nearby bush to fetch firewood for me when the bandits kidnapped her and three of her friends that accompanied her. She did not eat anything before they were taken away because the firewood was meant to prepare their breakfast.
“The kidnappers are demanding N500,000 to free her alone.
“Initially they demanded N200,000 which we were able to raise through donations from our relatives and other members of the community.
“When the money was taken to them, they rejected it that they would not accept anything less than N500,000. We don’t know how to raise the money because even what to eat has always been a problem for us.
“We are appealing for help. We want our daughter back because she is too young to be subjected to this kind of cruelty,” she said.
The leader of the camp and Protection Monitor of Grassroot Initiative for Strengthening Community Resilience, Nasir Ibrahim Hakimi, who confirmed the development said four children including two girls were kidnapped while fetching firewood in the nearby bush.
“Initially, the abductors demanded 50,000 from each family because of their financial status.
“So the sum of N200,000 was raised and taken to them. They collected the money but refused to free the children.
“It was after some days that they (bandits) called again and demanded another sum of N6 million.
“After a long negotiation, they reduced the money to N3 million but the families told them they didn’t have that money to pay and because of that, the bandits became angry and stopped calling.
“But I understand that the bandits called again and reduced the money to a certain amount which I don’t know yet,” he said.
The Director, of Disaster Management in the Ministry for Social Welfare and Humanitarian Affairs, Umar Isa, also confirmed the situation. He however declined to speak on what the ministry was doing to facilitate the realse of the children.
Daily Trust reported the incident had left many of the IDPs in fear as they claim that they had little to support themselves.
Another displaced person, Aishat Abubakar, said they have not been getting any support from any quarter.
“We have not been getting any support since we came to this place two years ago.
“People have been coming to take our names but nothing has come out of it up to this moment.
“We have been hearing about other displaced people getting support but this has not reached our camp.
“Look at the condition we are living in. We don’t have decent accommodation; we don’t have potable water and food to eat. We are only surviving on handouts from the locals,” Aishat added.
However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Welfare and Humanitarian Affairs, Hajiya Amina Muhamad Jekada, said the state government has been doing its best in attending to the plight of IDPs in the state.
She noted that there was an arrangement on the ground to return them to their respective villages after the rainy season.
A document obtained from the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency showed that 10,555 individuals from 3,091 households are currently staying in the camp which is codenamed “Rabah Stadium Camp”.
Out of the total number, 7,938 are children.
The document further revealed that there were 56,600 Internally Displaced Persons spreading across 18 camps within the state.
There were also 80,900 registered as refugees in the state of Maradi in the neighbouring Niger Republic.
The report disclosed that the security situation was particularly alarming in the eight eastern local government areas of the state which were sharing borders with Zamfara State.
The areas include Gada, Isa, Sabon Birni, Wurno, Rabah, Goronyo, Illela, and Gwadabawa.
Foundation donates foodstuffs to 10,000 IDPs
Meanwhile, an NGO, T200 Foundation, has distributed foodstuff to IDPs in Raba Camp.
In his address, the executive director of the foundation, Mr Emmanuel Osadebey, said the foodstuff was aimed at alleviating their suffering.
According to him, the organisation conducted a similar exercise in Maiduguri, Borno State, for persons affected by the Boko Haram insurgency targeting about 10,000 persons for support.
He said besides ready food and drinks, residents of the IDP camp received bags of rice, cartons of spaghetti, and other food items.
He explained that the organisation also engaged in training the IDPs with skills for small-scale businesses and developing the capacity of those interested in farming activities for onward engagement in the organisation’s farm located in Abuja.
Osadebey added that the activities were in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assured continued partnership with governments, institutions, and organisations towards achieving the goals.
Osadebey said the foundation also organised a quiz competition for the children to develop their patriotism and talents on the national anthem, current affairs, 1-100 numerals, and the 26 letters of the alphabet.
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