Nigeria: Tough times for dispalced persons at Dikwa camp

An elderly woman with a seriously wounded face and legs meditates on the fate of Boko Haram victims in the north east of Nigeria.

She is not alone; many others have been victims of the ongoing clashes between the Nigerian military and terrorist group Boko Haram .

Her daughter was equally wounded during one of such attacks.

Every day, between 200 and 300 people flee to the Dikwa displaced persons camp camp in the north east of Nigeria. They are all facing the consequences of the deadly conflict which has been tormenting the region for 8 years now.

“In the village, sometimes we had food and sometimes we don’t have. I therefore came to this camp due to lack of food. Thank God who has been providing for us,” a displaced person at the Dikwa camp said.

At Dikwa 57.000 displaced persons are cut off from the rest of the world living under horrible hygienic conditions with a high rate of malnutrition because food is rare.

« They need more food and like you can see, they need clothes, they need soap to wash. For the water it is long queue, they only have one source of water in this camp. There was one outside but it has been spoiled. There are so many things that they still need in the camp, » said Amina Mohammed, an official of the International Organisation for Migration.

Most inhabitants in villages around Dikwa have fled in an attempt to stop the jihadists from sourcing food from the villages.

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced.