Some Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from different locations in Kaduna State on Wednesday cried out for help over lack of shelter, hunger, and loss of means of livelihood.
The displaced persons are camped in an IDP centre in Kaduna.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria in separate interviews that they were forced out of their homes in 2020 due to exacerbating kidnappings and banditry activities in the state.
Many of the displaced persons, mainly from communities of Birnin Gwari, Igabi and Chikun Local Government Areas of the state, are also currently taking refuge in safer communities at the homes of relatives.
The Chairman of the IDPs at Zahu community, Gonin Gora, Habila Madami, told NAN that their lives were hanging in the balance with no hope of the situation getting better.
Mr Madami, a father of eight, said they were forced out of their home at Rumana, along Lagos Road, Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state since January 6, 2020, by bandits terrorising the area.
“We lost our means of livelihood and now live as refugees in our own state in communities that open their doors for us to either live in their homes or pay rent.
“We are living a life of agony with no hope of returning to our homes in sight with our old fathers and mothers worried about where their children would be buried when they died,” he said.
He added that another big challenge threatening the survival of the IDPs was hunger, explaining that the displacement denied them access to their farmlands to grow food crops to feed their families.
He added that the recent flood in some parts of the state had worsened their situation, stressing that the little lands some of the IDPs were able to rent and cultivate were washed by the flood.
Similarly, the IDPs Coordinator in the area, Caleb Nayaro, also said that the displacement had forced their children out of school and lost their source of income to finance their children’s education.
