PINE: This is shameful!

Following repeated reports of the worsening condition of residents of the various Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps scattered across the Northeast, the government has been at pains to emphasize that it is doing all within its power to take care of residents of the camp. However, in the last two months, reports, with factual and sometimes, video evidences has put a lie to government’s claims and have exposed the true nature of suffering at these camps.

In July this year, a report by the Geneva-based Medicins Sans Frontieres revealed that about six malnourished children die daily in the IDP camps in Bama, Borno state alone. This is sequel to repeated news from the foreign media that thousands of IDPs in over 20 camps around Maiduguri were starving to death because food and relief materials allocated to the camps are either diverted or stolen by government and or camp officials. The UK Guardian of Tuesday 13 September, 2016 reported protests by angry camp residents over the stealing of food meant for the residents while they are left to starve to death. The best feeding ration any IDP camp got was once a day. The paper quoted a camp resident thus: “In the night they load up vehicles with food and take it away to their houses…But I can’t complain. [A local official] said that if I complain he will tell soldiers that I am a member of Boko Haram and they will kill me.”

Meanwhile, Refugee International (RI), in its April Report titled “Nigeria’s Displaced Women & Girls: Humanitarian Community at Odds, Boko Haram’s Survivors Forsaken”, detailed the gory realities confronting the IDPs under the nose of Nigerian government officials including rape and sexual exploitation of women and girls, who in most cases, have to submit to the demands of the officials, soldiers and policemen for sex to be able to eat and possibly feed their children or family members.

Similarly, On October 31, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report detailing how government officials (camp officials, vigilante groups, policemen and soldiers) systematically raped and sexually exploited women and girls displaced by the Boko Haram conflict and how the government offers little or no protection to these hapless group and does nothing to stop the abuse not to talk of sanctioning the abusers.

The government feigned ignorance of these incidences and promised half-heartedly to investigate the reports. Nothing has come out of it. The police in Borno state, on its part, questioned the authenticity of the report. According to the commissioner of police in the state, Damian Chukwu “we have not received any complaint or report from any IDP camp on the issue, so the whole thing is strange to me”.

Recently, the United Nations, tired of talking to a non-caring Nigerian government began to appeal to the world to act urgently to save millions of people, especially women and children starving at the various IDP camps in the Northeast. Sadly, Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari came out earlier this month to say reports by local and international humanitarian agencies detailing the high level of deprivation in the war-ravaged north-east Nigeria were exaggerated. He said the United Nations and other private humanitarian groups are deliberately hyping the level of the crisis for financial gains.

But it now appears other arms of government, especially the Senate, are beginning to take the matter seriously. Last week the Senate, at plenary, called for the removal and prosecution of the SGF following alleged complicity in the diversion of the North East humanitarian funds. This followed the presentation of interim report of the Adhoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East by the Chairman of the Committee, Shehu Sani. The call for Mr. Lawal’s removal followed alleged contravention of the provisions of Public Procurement Act and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to award of contracts. Presenting the report, Mr. Sani said that some of the contracts were awarded to companies belonging to top government officials’ cronies and family members. He explained that the committee found out that Global Vision Engineering Limited, a company owned by Mr. Lawal, for instance, was awarded consultancy contracts including a ridiculous contract to clear invasive plant specie for N200 million.

Since then, more facts have emerged to show that Mr Lawal – and indeed other government officials – took liberty with the Presidential Initiative in the North East (PINE) funds to award contracts indiscriminately to their companies or cronies while the IDPs die of hunger and starvation.

To be sure, this allegation is a litmus test on the President’s often trumpeted war on corruption. It will show whether the President is really serious with his war on corruption or not.

Meanwhile, we urge the government to stop dampening international efforts to save the lives of the IDP residents. If it cannot help, it will only be charitable if it does not discourage others from helping.