'Crocodile comot my leg’ - How climate change dey bring deadly animals closer to humans

Joseph Atuma bin fish for Lake Baringo since im dey 12 years, and despite one or two encounters wit hippos and crocodiles, none of dis animals don attack am, until one evening for September 2018, wen one hippo tear through im canoe, grab im leg, and rip part of di leg off.

"E dey hide under di bushes, very near di shore, a place wia I no go expect say hippo go dey. And e catch me by surprise," di 42-year-old tok.

E sink im teeth on to di wooden canoe and into my leg. Na very little meat remain for my bone, between di knee and di foot," e add as im show di scars wey remain.

Lake Baringo, for Kenya Rift Valley na one of di kontri biggest freshwater lakes. From di main highway for di small town of Marigat, di beautiful golden yellow sun cast im rays on di waters as e rise, making di lake glimmer. Di fishermen don already come out, dia boats dey ontop di calm gleaming water.

Oga Atuma tok say e just resume fishing for di lake, five years afta di hippo attack.

"Dis na my bread and butter. I don try some odd jobs here and dia, but I no fit sustain my family," di father of four tok.

E tok say di water level don rise ova di years, and e now put im now dock im boat for wetin be di foundation of di local church before. Di lake water don cova am - just like homes, schools, hospitals, tarmacked roads, and even di offices of di Kenya fisheries department.

But you no fit really know say any of dis buildings bin exist. Di lake don swallow all of dem, and e don push out communities and force dem to live far away.

Environmentalists tok say di lake don double in size ova di last decade sake of heavy rainfall wey dey linked to climate change.

But pipo still come back sake of say di lake na dia lifeline. Dozens of women waka down to fetch water in big yellow cans to take back home. Odas dey wash dia clothes for di shores; and many odas dey clean up di fresh fish wey di fishermen dey bring for dem.

All dis dey happun as giant hippos as di deadly Nile crocodiles dey inside di water nearby.

Residents tok say as di lake dey get bigger, di crocodile population don increase and di water don dey heavily infested wit di predators.

Dem tok say hippos don also increase, and dem dey baff near di shores and dem dey move closer to pipo house and surrounding land.

Dis don increase di risk to di lives of pipo, and crocodile don drag pikin dem inside di lake and dem no go see dem again.

Winnie Keben, one mama of six, dey lucky to survive crocodile attack. She dey wear prosthetic leg wey dey attached to her left hip.

"I bin just finish fetching water from di lake and I bin dey wash my feet, I see one crocodile. I jump and shout. I bin try to escape but e attack and grab my leg and pull me inside di water," she tok.

"I shout and raise my hand so pipo go fit see me. My husband bin dey close. As soon as e see me, e rush to my rescue.

"As di crocodile grab my leg, me and my husband try to fight am. E eventually release my leg and bite my thigh and break am. One pesin wey dey see wetin dey happun grab one machete and rescue me from di crocodile but e don bite my leg already," Keben add.

She bin stay for hospital for six months, and wen dem discharge am, she see say land don cover her house and land. Currently she dey live for several kilometres away from di lake and she neva go back near di water.

"So many tins don dey change radually. A long time ago we bin no get floods, rainy seasons bin dey predictable, we go farm and get our food, nowadays wen rain fall we experience loss and destruction.

"I dey fear say if I go near di waters, attack fit happen again, and I also dey fear say di lake fit find me even for here sake of say e just dey move," Keben add.

Sixty residents wey dey act on behalf of di community don file one law suit against di goment. Dem accuse di goment say dem no respond to di climate crisis. Dem file similar law suit last year but e neva dey finalised.

Di latest legal action dey happun at di same time di goment and African Union (AU) dey co-host di first eva Africa climate summit for di capital, Nairobi, where President William Ruto arrive wit energy-saving electric car.

According to di United Nations, Africa only account for 2-3% of di world carbon emissions but na di continent wey dey most affected by global warming.

For im opening address for di summit, Oga Ruto tok say di continent go need trillions of dollars for "green investment opportunities" to mitigate di effects of climate change.

"We gatz see for green growth, no be just climate imperative but also fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportuities wey Africa and di world dey prepared to capitalise," Oga Ruto tell delegates.

Di United Arab Emirates (UAE) don promise to provide Africa wit $4.5bn (£3.6bn) in clean energy investments, on top of investors from di kontri wey agree to buy $450m in carbon credits through di Africa Carbon Markets Initiative.

Di UK goment don pledge to invest $61m (£49m) in new projects to help di continent manage di impact of climate change. Dis include $43m for new projects across 15 kontris to help women wey dey for risk communities, and to help more dan 400,000 farmers build resilience against di effects of climate change, dem tok.

Di residents wey bring di court case allege say di Kenyan goment don fail to respond to di climate crisis, and dem dey suffer from poverty and illness sake of di growing size of di lake.

Dem dey demand for financial compensation for diasef and oda families wey lose ancestral land, farms, livestock and wey don dey exposed to water-borne diseases such as malaria and cholera.

"Entities wey dey responsible to put in place relevant climate change policies to guarantee di right to clean and healthy environment fail, refuse and or neglect to do am," according to di court papers wey one legal advice centre Kituo Cha Sheria file on dia behalf.

"Wen di court finally make a determination, e fit lay down certain principles and e fit become a path-breaking precedent for di area of climate change," Omondi Owino tok. Na environment lawyer for di centre.

Di goment neva respond to di law suit.

As for Oga Atuma, di lake still remain im source of livelihood - but e dey live for constant fear of crocodiles and hippos.

"Di water level dey high now. Lake animals [hippos] dey come close to di shores. Some of dem wan step on di ground where waters dey shallow and dis mean say dem dey come close to pipo.

"E give you less room to manoeuvre even wen you dey almost on land. By di time you run away dem attack and you no go fit escape," e tok.