•How I lost husband, gave birth to twins while trying to escape death
The agony of widows, infants and the vulnerable Cameroonian refugees cooling off in some Taraba communities seemed to be getting worse owing to their increasing number amidst meagre resources to cater for their well-being. At the last count, over 4000 refugees from Furawa sub-division, Baji, Nkan, Mashi, Lisan Lutu Cameroon among others have migrated to some communities in Ussa and Kurmi local government areas of Taraba state to escape the mayhem unleashed on agitators for the independence of Southern Cameroon.
For those plagued with one ailment or the other, help seemed farfetched as many lamented difficulty in getting medical help,
coupled with starvation which has made them frail and pitiable.
When Vanguard visited Fikyu and Toso villages where some of them were being accommodated, the residents were weary and decried neglect by government and authorities responsible for refugees.
However, for people like Patience Andekun, what mattered was how to cater for the twins she gave birth to while fleeing her home country when the crises escalated to her village two months ago. Her husband who has been missing since the crisis started in her village seemed to be less of her worries right now. Other refugees also recounted how they escaped being consumed in the crisis and their present predicament. I gave birth to twins while running away—Patience Narrating her ordeal to Saturday Vanguard, Patience Andekun, the young mother of two said pandemonium broke out while she and her husband were asleep but had to run in different directions to escape being killed by the gun wielding attackers who stormed their village. She said, “I had to run because if I had stayed I would have been killed by now. I was pregnant but I never minded my condition to save my life like every other person that made it out of my village alive.
“On the way, I started feeling pains and discovered that the babies were about coming.
At this time I never even saw my husband because he also ran away when they started killing people in the village. “It was on our way to this village that I gave birth to the twins I am carrying now. I had to save their lives and mine by running. How I wish my husband was here to see our babies but I can’t tell if he is dead or alive. But since I came here, the church has been helping me and the children with food and accommodation.” I hope to see my wife one day —Ezekiel Another refugee, Ezekiel Rimar who fled his village in Baji with his only daughter lamented how he missed his wife whom he left behind. According to him, “I only picked my daughter when the crisis escalated to my village while my wife ran in a different direction.
I have been here for about two months and hope to see my wife someday because I miss her. “We ran here to live with some of our relatives who have been staying here for sometime and I really regret how everything turned out because we lost a lot of people. The way we have been living our life there even before the crisis was terrible. There was no payment of salaries and most projects were not sited in the south which was why our people raised a motion for its independence and that was how the crisis started.” We’re suffering —Refugees Dominic Amah one of the refugees who ran into Toso village while outlining some of their challenges told Vanguard that they lacked basic amenities. He emphasized that children and nursing mothers have been plagued with various forms of ailment which has compounded their hardship and sought respite for their suffering. “It has not been easy since we came here especially concerning feeding and access to health facilities. Even to use the toilet is a very big challenge. Children have contracted water borne diseases and are suffering from diarrhea and malaria. Though the local government chairman and members of the community have been assisting us in different ways since we came, but we still need humanitarian gesture from the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and other Non Governmental Organisations”, he pleaded Another refugee from Furawa subdivision, Polycarp Andy in his submission commended their host community for the help so far but felt disturbed with their growing number weekly.
He however allayed fears of putting much pressure on the community with their problems which he believed might degenerate into a humanitarian crisis, thus rendering both the refugees and the community helpless. He said “some of our brothers who went back to see how the situation was in our villages keep running back as the onslaught was still going on. As at last Saturday, over 15 of our people came into Kpambo-puri in Ussak and more people keep coming into Nigeria every week.
“We have been suffering ever since but at the communities they have been assisting us with food and accommodation, otherwise, starvation would have killed some of us. But we want the government of Nigeria and the world at large to intervene because I am afraid that with our increasing number, the communities harbouring us might run out of resources to care for us and themselves.” We need help- Community
Leader, LG Chairman
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/09/were-dying-cameroonian-refugees-in-nigeria-cry-for-help/
