When the photographs of some malnourished children first hit the internet last month, the general thought was that the pictures were another form of abuse on social media platforms. The ambivalence towards those photographs could be justified as there had been cases in the past where photographs of events that happened in different countries had been put on social media to appear as if they were Nigerian pictures. Even some major newspapers had been misled to publish such photographs on their cover pages.
However, it came out to be true that the photographs were indeed those of malnourished children at the camp of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bama, Borno State. The photographs were actually released by Doctors Without Borders also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a USbased non-governmental organisation that helps people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care worldwide. MSF issued a statement saying some 24,000 IDPs are in dire health situation with at least 30 people – mostly children – dying on a daily basis.
The IDPs, who had hitherto lived within the comfort of their homes for many years, were displaced from their communities after the Boko Haram terrorists invaded their homes. When President Muhammadu Buhari saw the disturbing pictures, he reportedly summoned the officials of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, and the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, who had since met with him at the Aso Rock villa.
Before the meeting with the president, the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, had paid a visit to Bama camp when he received reports that hundreds of malnourished persons recently rescued from Boko Haram captivity were dying on a daily basis in a camp in Bama, a community that is 75km away from Maiduguri, the state capital.
Miffed by the discovery, Shettima ordered that 61 children with acute condition of malnutrition should be relocated to the intensive care unit of the Umaru Shehu Ultramodern Hospital in Maiduguri where they are currently being attended to.
Beside the children, another set of over 400 persons with lesser cases of malnourishment were also moved out of the camp to a special care unit for proper feeding and medication. There is also a photograph of a young man suspected to be an IDP using a shovel to serve food in the camp.
This is ridiculous and dehumanising. Shovel is meant to pack sand and not food! Also, the head of MSF in Nigeria said: “This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama, but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical.
“We are treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri and see the trauma on the faces of our patients who have witnessed and survived many horrors. “Bama is largely closed off. We have been told that people including children there half starved to death. According to the accounts given to MSF by displaced people in Bama new graves are appearing on a daily basis.
We were told more than 30 people are dying a day due to hunger and illness”. “It was because the g overnor visited Bama and brought the sick and malnourished IDPs to Maiduguri after the soldiers of rescued them that even the MSF were able to go there to administer medication on them. Since the disturbing pictures became public knowledge, a lot of people have been asking what happened to billions of naira donated by the federal, state governments, corporate organisations, NGOs and individuals.
Nigeria has been labelled as one of the countries with the highest levels of corruption. This is especially seen within the public sector including stealing public funds and accepting bribes. The nation could have lost around $4–8 billion yearly due to corruption between 1999 and 2007 when civilians took over governance after many years of military rule.
The situation that led to the malnutrition of the children resulting in some deaths could also be as a result of corruption. It is the government responsibility to ensure that the lives and properties of its citizens are safe at all times. It is bad enough that the government could not protect the citizens from the onslaught of Boko Haram.
It is even worse that those driven away from their homes are still being subjected to harrowing experience in the supposed safe haven as a result of lack of food and proper medication. This is double tragedy for the IDPs. Although the president had met with the officials of SEMA,
Nigerians and donors deserve to know what happened to the billions of naira donated to cater for the welfare of the IDPs. Anticorruption crusade remains the selling point of this administration and Buhari should wield the big stick it is established that the money donated to the IDPs had been embezzled.
