Sick From Flood Disaster to Non-Existent Hospital; Inside story of Abandoned IDPs In Benue. 

It was a cloudy afternoon on the 8th of October 2021 in Makurdi, Benue state, when Mbaiorga Winifred had just stepped out of her makeshift home. 

The previous night’s heavy rain had dismantled her makeshift home, a series of mosquito nets combined in a “cave-like form” to provide shelter for her and her five children. 

“I was busy fixing my “Ihia-wam”- all through the day after being drenched the previous night. The weather was not my challenge.” Mbaiorga said. 

“Ihia-wam” means “my house” in the Tiv language.


She continued, “But I became terrified when I saw the cloud forming again. I knew my family, and I would be drenched again later that night.”

Since the incident, life has never been easy for Mbaiorga and her family. 

A few years ago, she could do menial jobs at the camp to fend for his children, but her strength has failed her. 

“Since October, I have been feeling a very sharp headache coupled with general weakness of the body. Worse still, I began emaciating, and my body worsens daily.”

Mbaiorga could not access any hospital even when some mobile health workers privately told her that she could have type II diabetes.

The Back Story

The 54-year-old mother of five was busy running to provide for his family when life took a turn in 2018 in the Tukura area of Guma local government, Benue state. 

Narrating, Mbaiorga said, “It was reported a clash in the media, but it was never a clash; it was unprovoked, unplanned, and never envisioned.” 

Mbaiorga Winifred

“Everything happened so fast in a particular twilight when we started hearing gunshots.”

“We thought it was just local hunters preparing their guns for hunting, but it kept increasing and approaching. Moreover, the sound was unfamiliar. Unlike the local guns, it sounded so real and sharp.”

“We later discovered they were Fulani herders who had come to take over our land.”

“That was how we started running, and there was no time to pick anything. How I managed to escape with my children, only God knows.”

“That night, over seventy persons were killed. That was the first time I witnessed mass burial and for my siblings.”

Different Ailments 

Like Mbaiorga, several others were displaced across many communities like Tukura, Mbagen, Yelewata, etc, in Guma, Logo and Makurdi local governments of Benue State. 

Msughshima Mary, 47, a native of yelewata community, also was displaced from Guma LG. 

For months, she has felt pain in her abdomen, loss of appetite, and fatigue then her urine has turned dark. 

She complained to Mr. Gabriel Yev, The camp chairman, but the Chairman is as handicapped as the rest of the inmates. Even though he suspected it could be hepatitis because he had once witnessed symptoms like this that was later tested to be hepatitis. 

Udei, Regina, 40, is from Mbalagh, in Makurdi Local government of Benue state. She came to the camp in 2020 with four children. 

Udei Regina

According to her, since October, all her children have manifested several symptoms which she feels are related to diarrhea. 

“At the moment, Isaac Udei, Mr eldest son, is feeling pain in his abdomen, and he’s vomiting, including bloating, nausea, fever, blood, and mucus in his stool.”  

“We can only boil herbs. But it does not feel like the situation is being given the needed attention.” Udei, helplessly narrated. 

Like every other IDP in Nigeria, Tse Yandev IDPs are plagued with poverty, malnutrition, overcrowding, poor living conditions, and inadequate health care.

Therefore, the International Organization for Migration also believes they are susceptible to infectious diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, and acute respiratory disorders and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disorders in many IDPs in Nigeria. 

Unfortunately, the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria keeps increasing. 

The increasing number of IDPs was primarily due to conflict and violence such as communal crisis, militancy, banditry, farmer-herder clashes, and Boko Haram terrorism. 

Internally displaced persons were forced to leave their homes but still remain on their country’s border.

Nigeria reportedly has the third-highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa. 

In 2020, the country accounted for over 2.7 million internally displaced people. 

On the 19th of October, 2022, the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reported that 254 people were displaced in Benue due to crime-related violence. 

The Atlas Mobility Tracking also states that, in October 2022, DTM identified a 12.2 percent increase in IDPs compared to March 2022. 

Illegal Camp” 

Among the twenty-seven (27) “recognized” IDPs camps with a population of over 2 million displaced persons across these camps in Benue state, the Tse yandev IDPs camp where Mbaiorga and over nine hundred (900) displaced persons stay is being captured as an “unofficial camp” by Emmanuel Shior, the Chairman, State Emergency Management Agency. 

In an interview with this reporter, Shior disclosed that Tse yandev is an “illegal camp” because the government does not approve it. 

“We asked them to move somewhere to Uikpan. That is where we know we can recognize and treat them like displaced persons. Otherwise, they are just community opportunists who want to ruin our state’s reputation by posing as IDPs.”

In his defense, the Chairman of the camp, Mr. Gabriel Yev claimed that the government was pushing them back to the bush where they ran away from. 

“Even the Uikpan camp is not safe. We are still hearing the cases of killings there. He said.  

He continued, “The government wants us out of sight because they feel we are embarrassing the state by staying in a conspicuous place.”

For somebody like Mbaiorga and others whose livelihood depends on asking for alms after being displaced for over four years, they could not have asked for anything more than a health care center. 

“The Africa Data Hub Community Journalism Fellowship supported this report.”

Jairus Awo

Jairus Awo is a Nigeiran Muiltimedia public interest journalist. He believes in the power of the media as a catalyst to development and societal growth. You can tip him an idea on [email protected]

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Benue Varsity Students Lament Amidst Nigeria Cashless Policy

Thu Feb 23 , 2023
By: Gloria Ogine Following the ripple effect of the redesigned naira currency as part of the activities of the Nigerian federal government in the implementation of the Nigeria Cashless Policy, the country is now thrown into an unfortunate hardship, and students are not left out.  As obtainable in other places, the Northcentral University Students, are having more difficulties paddling the canoe through learning.  In addition to academic stress; flipping through pages of books, journals, research works, jostling through the internet for inspiration, and rushing to beat assignment deadlines, Benue varsity students are making harder decisions accommodating long queues at the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Services (POS)  terminals waiting forever for cash. Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its governor, Godwin Emefiele had on October 26, 2022, announced that it had redesigned  N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.  The Commission went further to give until the thirty-first of January 2023, after which the old notes would cease to be legal tender.  Although the January 31st, 2023 deadline didn’t go well with Nigerians, owing to the scarcity of the redesigned notes.  February 10th was later announced as the new deadline which was still not well with Nigerians Nevertheless, the policy has come to stay despite the cash scarcity.  Students Narrate ordeals.  At the Benue State University, Makurdi, The Middlebelt Reporter observes that students are having a hard time choosing between attending lectures or joining the long queue at the ATM terminals or POS stands.  Either of the decisions is detrimental to their academic performance or stomach performance.  Read Also: In Benue, farmers recount losses as Nigeria’s weak forest policy aids deforestation Most times, long queues don’t have pay-offs; as there isn’t sufficient cash to go around. To worsen the situation, some  POS agents around the university community have heightened their service charges despite stern warnings from the Students Union body.  Like Edwin Oruhu; a final-year student of the department of Zoology said it is frustrating to be cashless on campus, especially since the bandwidth is unfavorable for internet banking. “I could recall paying at a restaurant with my friends and days after, we got back to hear that the transfer wasn’t confirmed. We had to pay again.” Edwin and their friends have had times of being overcharged simply because they had no cash. And they had to pay with their card or mobile transfers.  “Today, a friend and I went to the park after she couldn’t access cash. They were accepting transfers at first but when a particular transaction could not be verified, they stopped and we had to locate another park. we were charged #2000 for a service of #1500 if we use cash.” Gideon Ocholi, a 300-level student of  Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) said,  “As a student, it has affected me in diverse ways including hunger strikes and being stranded” He continued, “I have been meaning to go to the market for the past two weeks but I have not been able to. Do you know why? I don’t have transportation fare. I don’t have #200 for okada.  That’s so sad.”, He lamented. Emmy Joe, a 300 Level Mass Communication student of Benue State University, pointed out that the new naira policy has posed a series of challenges for him but one of these challenges that stands out for him is the difficulty he encountered when paying his school fees. Read Also: Low Christmas as Fuel Price Cripples Travel Hopes in Benue “Ever since the old naira ban and new naira scarcity began, I have been having a series of challenges when it comes to transactions, as it is, payments of user charges can be daunting.  “The new currency saga is no longer something to bear.” He added.To cushion the strenuous difficulties, the Nigerian President, Mohammadu Buhari,  GCFR addressing the nation on February 15th, affirmed that the old N200 naira note alongside the new N200, N500, and N1000 naira notes would concurrently be legal tenders until April 10, 2023, when the old 200 nairas would cease to be a legal tender. Post Views: 13

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Jairus Awo

Jairus Awo is a Nigeiran Muiltimedia public interest journalist. He believes in the power of the media as a catalyst to development and societal growth. You can tip him an idea on [email protected]

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