Over 4,000 displaced women,
children and men in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Dikwa are sheltering in
the open, while being screened by the Nigerian Army after fleeing military
operations in the area.
Cheick Ba, Country Director,
Norwegian Refugee Council, said this in a statement on Tuesday.
The agency also released images
of Nigerians- refugees, sitting on the ground in clusters, while some move
about with their luggage.
“We’re extremely concerned by the
dire living conditions of families in Dikwa who’ve recently fled military
operations”, Ba said.
“Children are sleeping outside
with nothing over their heads. With the rains now hitting the area, they risk
becoming sick with malaria, diarrhoea or typhoid,” he added.
The statement noted that aid
agencies were overwhelmed as hundreds of displaced people arrive to Dikwa every
day, after fleeing Mallam Kari village in Bama and other neighbouring
communities, due to hostilities between the Nigerian Army and armed opposition
groups.
“Before being allowed to settle
in new towns, the new arrivals undergo a screening conducted by the military”,
it continued.
“Over 600 displaced people are
currently being kept in an unused roofless gas station while waiting to be
screened by the army.
“Some 4,000 others already
screened are being held at a reception centre before being given temporary
shelters. But the centre is full to the brink, forcing families to sleep
outside.
“It is common to see up to 15
women cramped in a single room while the men sleep outdoors.
“The military report that it
takes an average of two weeks to clear the displaced people. However, last year
the same exercise took as long as one year in cases when the army claimed women
were wives of Boko Haram insurgents.”
The arrivals have put pressure on
the lives of the host community.
Kachalla Isa, the head of the
community, said “Our schools have been turned into camps for displaced families
and our children can’t access education. This worries me a lot”.
The agency added that only three
of the eight schools in Dikwa are functional. Four schools are housing
displaced people, while the army is using one as a military base.
“NRC has so far built over 1,300
temporary homes for the new arrivals, and plans to build more shelters and
toilet facilities in the coming weeks”, it added.
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