The United Nations (UN) yesterday confirmed Wednesday’s Daily Trust exclusive report on the abduction of female Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno State.
It puts the figure of those abducted at over 200.
Mr Mohamed Malick Fall, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the UN in Nigeria, in a statement last night said they were disturbed.
He said, “The United Nations strongly condemns the reported abduction of internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of them women, boys and girls, in the Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State.
UN confirms over 200 women IDPs abducted in Borno
“The exact number of people abducted remains unknown but is estimated at over 200 people.
“On 29 February, members of a non-state armed group (NSAG) allegedly abducted the IDPs who had reportedly ventured beyond the safety of the trenches surrounding Ngala – from the ISS, Zulum, Kaigama, and Arabic IDP camps – in search of firewood.
“While an unspecified number of older women and children under 10 have reportedly been released, scores of IDPs remain unaccounted for, according to protection partners.
“I stand in solidarity with the families of all those abducted, especially children, and their communities and urge those who have abducted them to release them without harm. On behalf of the United Nations, I remind all parties to the conflict to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians from harm.
“In addition, I urge authorities and other partners to provide more livelihood opportunities for IDPs in camps in Borno State, alongside ongoing efforts for lasting solutions, to reduce the risks of insecurity and violence faced by IDPs,” the statement said.
According to Malick Fall, “More than two million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states have fled to garrison towns where they have few, if any, livelihood options. Those who venture beyond the protective trenches surrounding these towns to forage or farm do so at great peril, with killings, abductions, forced recruitment and sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) rampant.
“Two days to the commemoration of International Women’s Day, this incident is a stark reminder that women and girls are among those most affected by conflict. The crisis in the BAY states is disproportionately affecting women, boys and girls. There is a high prevalence of GBV against women and adolescent girls, while boys are targeted for recruitment by NSAGs,” the statement said.
Families ask FG, N/Assembly to rescue abducted women
Our correspondents report that families of the abducted women yesterday called on relevant authorities to rescue their loved ones.
They said they don’t want a repeat of the incident in Chibok 10 years ago, where 276 school girls were abducted and up till now many of them have not returned.
There has been apparent silence both in Borno and Abuja since the abductions, with families of the victims and acquaintances saying they felt “abandoned”.
Over 24 hours after this newspaper exclusively reported the mass abduction of the women, both the military and political leaders have refused to confirm the incident or give a contrary opinion.
Some families of the victims, who spoke to our correspondents yesterday, accused the local government chairman, state and federal lawmakers of keeping mute despite the situation they found themselves in.
“We informed everyone in the government, from the local government chairman to the members of the National Assembly that these girls were abducted but none of them took any action,” one of the IDPs, Modu Mustapha said.
Another resident, who simply gave his name as Yusuf, said such incidents had happened in the past unreported, but considering the number of people affected this time around, they will continue to cry until our women are brought back.
“Over one hundred thousand IDPs from various communities are living in these camps, but we are being treated like second-class citizens.
“Today is the third (fourth) day that our children were abducted but no delegation from the government has come to address us,” he said.
A camp official, who does not want to be named, told our correspondent last night that some of the parents have taken a big risk and followed their abducted children to the bush.
He said, “They took the decision two days after their children were abducted and no government official came to tell them of any plan to rescue them.
“A woman whose three of her children have been abducted said she rather die in search of her children than to let them in the hand of the insurgents,” he said.
He said all the camps were seriously affected by the incident.
“Most of the parents no longer sleep at night, and nobody cares to look into their situation.
“If you have an iota of sympathy, you must be perturbed about their situation, but these government people don’t care,” he said.
The victims, who have been living in Babban Sansani, Zulum and Arabic camps for years, were displaced from the villages of Bula Budoy, Gillam, Wofiyo, Daala, Abbari, Ladari, Jarawaji, Karamawaji, Manawaji and Garal.
Daily Trust reports that the women left their camps in search of firewood in the bush around Jillam and Wurga villages about 15 kilometres from the town when the tragedy struck.
Army dispatches search team
However, a credible source at the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, confirmed the Ngala incident.
“Troops have already been dispatched into the wilderness for search and rescue operations,” he said.
“The air components are also hovering around the wilderness searching for the women,” he said.
Terrorists burn IDP houses in Dikwa
While the people of Gamboru-Ngala and adjoining communities are trying to recover from the mass abduction in the area, suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Tuesday razed down at least 25 newly constructed houses meant for IDP returnees in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State.
Eyewitness Modu Kundiri, who was on his way to Maiduguri from Gamboru, said they were asked by the troops to wait for about three hours at Logomani village.
It was learnt that the assault on the newly constructed houses was carried out around 10 am.
“The soldiers informed us that we had to wait for about 3 hours from 11 am -2 pm before we were allowed to leave Logomani.
“I saw and counted more than 25 newly constructed houses at Gajibo village on fire,” Modu said.
A resident of Dikwa town, Sheriff Lawan, confirmed the news to our correspondent via the phone.
He added that the assailants equally planted many Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the ongoing construction site to truncate the rebuilding and resettlement processes of the state government.
“The soldiers told us that the insurgents planted many IEDs at the construction site and they discovered some bombs already,” Sheriff said. Borno State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Professor Usman Tar confirmed the Gajibo incident.
“We have dispatched SEMA officials to the village to assess the situation before we can issue any reliable statement. Please, let us wait for them to return and issue their report,” he said.
Gajibo town is some 110 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital.
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