'No water, food or where to sleep' - IDPs for Borno camps cry for help afta Trump suspend NGO funding

Pipo wey insurgency pursue go Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps for Maiduguri, Borno State capital for northeast Nigeria dey raise fresh alarm sake of dia "challenges".

Dem say hunger dey worsen, water no dey, shelter don finish and insecurity dey grow afta US govment don stop humanitarian aid for foreign kontris.

On 20 January, Donald Trump sign di order wey mandate all agency and department wey dey in involved in foreign development programs to "immediately pause new obligations and release of development assistance funds to foreign kontris, international organizations, and contractors."

According to Trump, dis order na bicos "di United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy no dey aligned wit American interests and in many cases no dey follow American values".

Usaid intervention for Nigeria na majorly for di health sector, but e also dey touch education, humanitarian assistance, environment, and even governance, etc.

So far, no camp don close sake of say NGOs stop dia help for Maiduguri, but pipo wey still dey inside camps dey suffer well well according to wetin BBC News Pidgin find.

Muna Albadawi camp bin carry about 51,000 IDPs and e don get many fire wahala before, including one for 2022 wey burn over 3,000 shelters and anoda one wey kill five pipo.

Pipo wey dey di camp come mainly from nine LGAs wey Boko Haram affect like Mafa, Dikwa, Monguno, Kala Balge and Bama.

Wen BBC News Pidgin visit di camp, e be like say pipo don abandon am. Mud huts don scatter, women and children dey waka up and down, no clean water or food, and now na less dan 1000 pipo dey for di camp but dem dey stranded as dem bin come from three wards of Mafa LGA.

Before di aid wahala start, thousands of pipo dey live for dis camps becos na di aid wey NGOs dey give dem be dia only way to survive.

Di situation for Muna Albadawi show say pipo wey remain dey suffer pass, and dem dey beg urgently for food, water, transport and security afta NGOs stop dia aid support.

According to wetin BBC News Pidgin find, na only MSF, Red Cross and NEMA still dey support some camps for Borno state.

Bulama Modu, chairman of di camp wey dey along Gamboru - Ngala Road, tok say most IDPs no sabi how dem go survive again as food, water and aid don finish.

"We no sabi wen we go fit go back our house. We get seeds, but notin else. Our women dey go find leaf like moringa, tafasa and kwanzo just to cook for us" e tok.

E remember say life bin better wen NGOs still dey support di camp.

"Wen NGOs dey come, we dey get enof food, even if pesin no get, e neighbour go share wit am."

According to Modu, IDPs for di camp come from at least nine LGAs including Gwoza, Konduga, Mafa, Ngala and Monguno.

E cry say all di water system wey RUWASA and state goment install don remove afta dem mark di camp for closure.

"We dey buy one gallon of water for as high as 500 naira."

E tok say as e be now, dem no fit take care of pipo wey dey di camp sake of humanitarian organizations don withdraw dia support.

"We no fit and we no get wetin e take to take care of our pipo, most of dem now dey beg for street and do small small work to survive."

Modu beg Govnor Babagana Zulum and oda stakeholders for di state make dem help dem.

"We really need help from stakeholders and Governor Zulum, na im pipo we be. Even if we go back house, e don late to farm sake of rain don almost finish."

"Wen rain fall, we no sabi wia to go. We dey hide inside old NGO buildings wey dem use for clinic and school."

Ali Muhammed from Mafa LGA tok say pipo don ready to go since.

E tok say di camp collapse afta state govment shut am down and NGOs stop all assistance.

"Since dem stop to support us, we no get work, no food. If pipo go bush go find firewood, Boko Haram go kidnap dem. Some still dey captivity, kidnappers dey ask for two million naira.

"Now we dey go Mosque to Mosque dey beg for donation."

Muhammed still tok say na only MSF still dey give health service and say di last food wey govment give na during Ramadan, and na only once and for months now, dem dey sleep outside.

"My neighbour neva chop since yesterday. Im wife just gada moringa leaf boil for di children."

For anoda camp, Bulama Ali, village head of di camp tok say dem originally come from Maska, Ajuri Leje, Tamsu Ngadua, Luskori and Maiwa villages and about 700-800 pipo still dey di camp.

And now di only way wey dem dey manage di gap wey NGOs leave na wetin dem dey get from NEMA and Red Cross.

"We dey receive small food from NEMA and Red Cross. Our pipo especially women dey struggle outside and children dey work for motor park just to get sometin to put for dem mouth."

"Pipo don bin ready to go back to dia home because life here no sweet at all."

Anoda woman leader Fanne Bukar, wey war pursue from Maiwa village for Loskori Ward, tok wit tears how pipo dey try survive.

"Our shelter collapse three months ago. Now we dey stay inside Red Cross room only afta office hours, during di day we dey sit under tree."

Even before NGOs stop dia support, between 2021 and 2022 alone, eight big camps don close, wey affect over 140,000 pipo and by 2023, between 170,000 and 200,000 pipo don relocate or return.

IDP camp for Maiduguri Borno state



Inside Muna Albadawi IDP camp for Maiduguri, Borno state