GBAJIMBA, Nigeria – Displaced families affected by the long-standing dispute between farmers and herders in Benue State are currently battling to stay alive. This incessant violence has rendered millions homeless, driving them away from their farms to refugee camps with no food sources, employment opportunities, or access to basic services.
Video footage recorded at the site in Gbajimba shows the tough living standards of the displaced people, where the victims cook over fire and manoeuvre through rudimentary facilities. Razed and abandoned buildings are testimonies to the violence that has ravaged one of Nigeria’s leading agricultural zones.
This human catastrophe has compelled many women and children to beg for food in nearby markets. Sabastin Mtonga, a displaced farmer, expressed his sentiments by saying, “Humans cannot fold their arms while hunger kills them off… our women and children go to the market with brooms to sweep and beg for food”.
A shortage of resources is most lethal to vulnerable groups. “I have nothing left. This is what I have now. It won’t last long,” remarked Monica Toryuhar, a mother of four kids, regarding her struggle to feed her infant on millet porridge.
Besides the threat of starvation, displacement has caused a generation to miss out on education. Parents do not have sufficient funds or government assistance to cover their children’s tuition. “There is no money for us to educate our kids. They should be in schools,” stated Uchaa Abraham, a parent with five children.
This is happening even after Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, announced a food security emergency. Heavy fighting in Benue has left large areas of farmland abandoned.
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[This current affairs report item is provided as part of Broadcast Media Africa (BMA)’s mandate to keep Africa’s broadcast media audiences and stakeholders informed on international developments in local and global humanitarian and public service broadcasting.]
