The International Market camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Makurdi has registered 4,775 persons, the Camp Manager, Mr. James Iorhuna, has said.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Makurdi that the camp complied with international standards.
The camp was set up following the flood which displaced more than 100,000 persons in Benue and affected 21 local government areas.
Iorhuna said, “We have so far registered 1,387 male children, 1,349 female children, 531 men, 642 women, 585 children under the age of five, 92 pregnant women, 115 nursing mothers and 74 physically-challenged persons.”
The camp manager said UNICEF had provided water and 40 toilets at the camp, while other basic needs of the IDPs were being met.
Mrs Joy Leva, a mother of twins living at the camp, appealed to government, donor agencies and individuals to assist her in feeding her children.
She said, “I have four children, out of which two are twins. We were first displaced from the Air Force area as a result of the Jukun/Tiv crisis few months ago before we relocated to Gyado villa where our house was flooded.
“We were sleeping when the flooding occurred and we were unable to take anything out of our thatch house before it collapsed.
“At the moment, the only things we have are items given to us by camp officials.
“My husband works as a labourer, while I have no work. I want to appeal to government to help me in feeding my children as I am overwhelmed by the situation.”
Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Sebastine Hon, on Tuesday begged the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Cement, and other corporate organistions in Benue State as well as international donors to assist in tackling the floods ravaging the state.
Hon, who hails from the state, described the floods that had been ravaging the state for the past one week as “calamitous, life threatening and most damaging.”
The SAN, in a statement, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for directing the National Emergency Management Agency to intervene; but said, “NEMA and all such interventionist statutory bodies must always rise to the occasion without waiting for presidential directives, especially when human life is imperiled.”
He said the magnitude of the disaster was so “gargantuan that the Benue State Government alone cannot comfort the victims and place them in at least manageable positions.”
He said, “I, therefore, call on the international community and good-spirited Nigerians to assist their fellow humans, who are in dire straits as a result of the floods.”
Agency report
