Natives Struggling With Us For Palliatives – Bakassi IDPs Lament

Forum 7 months ago

Natives Struggling With Us For Palliatives – Bakassi IDPs Lament

Residents of the Ikot Eyo Edem community in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State, who have been internally displaced, have alleged that local inhabitants have encroached upon their temporary shelter.

They alleged that they struggle for any palliatives or monetary assistance from governments, groups or international donor agencies, thereby leaving them bare.

In a Save our Soul statement addressed to the Federal Government and signed by the leader of the IDP camp in Bakassi, Chief Etim Okon Ene, they lamented the deplorable conditions in the camp, saying if not attended to, it may lead to an epidemic.

Ene also stated that their condition became worse when security agencies recently stormed the camp in search of suspected militants and kidnappers.

He explained that the operatives alleged that the suspects had turned their camp into a criminal den.

He accused the host community of taking undue advantage of the EndSARS protest to cart away their valuables.

Ene claimed that their unwavering disposition toward the sharing formula of palliatives prompted their host community to allegedly devise means of making their stay unwelcoming.

“As a people whose only means of livelihood is farming as we no longer have access to the sea for fishing, we are very mindful of our activities in order not to incur the wrath of the host community.

“But our experience has shown that the host community are not comfortable with the attention our plight has attracted from donor agencies,” he said.

They appealed to the Federal Government to come to their aid by donating farming implements to enable them to be self-reliant.

The IDPs also want the government to help beef up security in the camp, including the provision of solar-powered street lights, security posts and surveillance.