What happens to female IDPs in Borno will make you sick
– Female IDPs in Borno state have reportedly turned to nefarious activities to survive
– The affected women reportedly turned to prostitution in order to feed their families
– The IDP camps have been plagued with reports of suffering induced by corruption
Female IDPs have reportedly turned to prostitution to survive
The plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has been a cause for concern. The network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Borno state, has added to the cause for concern as there are claims that most female IDPs in the state have turned to prostitution to survive.
According to Daily Post, Ahmed Shehu, the chairman of the CSOs, said that the displaced women and teenagers had turned to prostitution as a source of income to take care of their families.
On Tuesday, September 20, while speaking at the presentation of the situational assessment of IDPs in the North-East by a non-governmental organisation, NOI Polls, in Abuja, Mr Shehu also noted that 60 per cent of female IDPs had suffered rape and other forms of sexual harassment.
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Shehu said, “Many females were raped and killed while collecting firewood, particularly as they travelled farther from their communities. Many teenagers are heading their families now because their parents had been killed or captured by Boko Haram.
“The sad part of it is that many female internally displaced persons have gone into prostitution so that they can feed themselves.”
Speaking on the plight of the IDPs, Mohammed Alfa, a Borno-based journalist, urged anti-graft agencies to concentrate on the state “if they are serious about fighting corruption,” noting that foods meant for the IDPs were being diverted and sold by state government officials.
Alfa also alleged that some people had threatened his life, when he published a report on the nefarious activities going on in the camps, stressing that he was not frightened by the threat.
NOI in its general assessment, came to the conclusion that cases of sexual abuse and social vices were on the rise in the camps and called on the government to address it.
“Majority of IDPs (93 per cent) attested that they don’t get most of the relief materials like food, clothes, medicines and so on, allocated to them by the government and donor agencies,” the report stated.
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Meanwhile, panic ensued yesterday , when the minister of women affairs, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan, collapsed at a camp situated in Fufore local government area of Adamawa state while addressing vulnerable IDP women inside a store in the camp.
Alhassan, who was in crutches when she arrived the camp, and after addressing the IDPs, entered the store to discuss with some of the said vulnerable women sequel to an allegation by some foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on violation of some girls and women at the IDPs’ camps in the Northeast.
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