IDP's protest lack of supplies [Pulse Exclusive]

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August 26, 2016 12:59 PM

Watch in this exclusive Pulse video, the extent of the hunger which led to discontent, and eventual protests at the Borno camp for IDP’s.

IDPs Protest in Maiduguri

Now in an exclusive video Pulse obtained, the extent of the hunger which led to their dissatisfaction, and eventually, protest, can be seen.

Obviously angered men and women in the clip can be seen and heard expressing their discontent noisily.

There is also the moving sight of a woman who broke down in tears as her scrawny, malnourished, and very hungry child was held up to the camera.

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The occurrences of hunger and lack of supplies at the Borno camp for internally displaced people is one which stretches back to over a year, despite several reports of donations and government intervention.

When, finally, one of the IDP’s gets in front of the camera, he speaks, in broken English, of how 20 or more people die daily of hunger in the camp.

The unidentified man echoes what we have already heard - No food for the people, no provision of drugs for the kids, and even he, according to him, had not had any food in two days at the time of the video.

He pleads with the government to have a word with the committee in charge of their feeding, using words like “they should give us what is ours;” a suggestion that there are supplies, but the supplies were deliberately being held back from them.

Words like “they should not spoil his regime” also resonates to support this.

Another man speaks of how food, drug and cloth supplies were regularly being delivered, and promptly distributed in the months leading to the last general elections in 2015.

Afterwards, however, he says, there was nothing; leading to a prolonged period of hunger, frustration and abandonment.

“For over one year, we have been suffering here,” he says in clear terms.

The protest has now been called off, however, after the camp feeding committee was disbanded.

The Borno State Deputy Governor visited the camp to announce the development to the IDP’s, and to also promise that a truck of grains and other food items would be deployed to the camp as soon as possible.

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