Emerging reports indicate that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Gubio IDP camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Saturday attacked several humanitarian workers, injuring some of them. Also, five Lexus Jeeps were reportedly destroyed during the incident. According to Dailytrust, the incident started when the officials of a yet-to-be identified Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) came to the camp to distribute relief materials to them.
The report said when the group commenced distribution of the items, the IDP rejected the rations, saying that it was too small. The displaced persons then started hurling stones at the staff, injuring some of them. Also, the Lexus Jeeps brought to the camp by the officials were destroyed.
The report quoted one of the aggrieved IDPs as saying “We have been starving for the past one month and nobody came here to share or distribute food. And when they came, they reduced the rations; instead of three per family, they gave us two. What we got was not enough so our wives protested and the children started throwing stones at them. I was personally against the attack.”
The distribution of relief materials to IDPs in the North East has always been fraught with challenges. Apart from inadequate materials being released to the area due to paucity of funds, there are widespread complaints of diversion of some of the materials by the contractors and officials. Recently, some officials were accused of diverting grains meant for IDPS and repackaging same for sale in the open market.
Meanwhile, cases of malnutrition and famine continue to cause fatality among children in the region.
