Benue IDPs stick to education despite being displaced by herdsmen attacks (photos, video)

macfranc007 March 31, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Jerrywright Ukwu

- Over 200,000 people have been displaced in Benue state

- This is due to the constant attacks on communities by armed herdsmen

- The children in Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) have not allowed the situation affect their interest in education

Ninbei Abeche, a teacher from Tokula community of Guma local government area in Benue state is pursuing his passion in teaching despite his present situation as an Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) resident in Abagena, located in the outskirts of Makurdi, the state capital.

Ninbei and his students have continued their classes in the IDP camps following the takeover of their community by armed herdsmen.

Herdsmen attacks: Benue IDPs stick to education despite being displaced

The make shift classes in the IDP camps which the young children use to learn.

NAIJ.com gathered that over 15,000 students are out of school since herdsmen took over many communities in the area, prompting the locals to abandon their homes and farmlands to take refuge in various IDP camps.

Children in the communities had stopped going to school because schools were often the targets of the attackers each time they struck.

The education of the children suffer as their schools have been taken over by the armed herdsmen.

Speaking on the challenges he faces teaching the students in the IDP camp, Abeche said: “The students are more than the school capacity, but we manage.

“We lack school facilities such as teaching materials, teaching aids, to impact knowledge to the students.”

The students also complained about their learning conditions in the camp, calling on the federal government to come to their aid so they can return back to their homes and their school.

Ninbei Abeche is concerned about the learning environment the children are currently exposed to.

Sunday Swaku, a JSS 3 student, told NAIJ.com that he hopes the situation is resolved soon so they can return to their classes.

“10 people were killed in our village, so we ran to this place. I am going to school here but my hope is to return to our community,

“I am here going to school free, I'll also do my junior WAEC here for free, but I still want to go back home.

“I want the Fulanis to leave our village. I want the government to pursue them so we can return back to our homes,” he said.

Swaku is hopeful that the crisis will be over soon so they can return to their classes.

On his part, Kelvin Liam, an SS 1 student, expressed his concerns that they are not in school.

“The problem has affected many of us. We are young children, we should be in school not in IDPs’ camps.

“All our schools have either been shut down or now being used as IDPs’ camps. This has forced us out of school. The government should help us,” he lamented.

Liam wants the federal government to intervene and help them end the crisis.

Governor Samuel Ortom, during a recent visit to the IDP camps, was quoted as saying 60 per cent of those displaced “are children of school age and them have not been able to return to school.”

Ortom's spokesman, Terver Akase, in an interview with NAIJ.com, said the government has expended so much on the camps to feed the people and provide their basic needs.

Akase called on Nigerians and foreigners alike to help donate resources to the IDP camps.

His words: “The camps are swelling and the resources of Benue are being overwhelmed. So the passionate appeal we are making to all Nigerians, and even those who are not Nigerians, but are living in this country, is that we have a humanitarian crisis on our hands in Benue.

“What you can do to help the suffering children of Benue state who have been put out of school.

“We are appealing to public spirited Nigerians and corporate bodies to come to the aid of Benue state.

“We are appealing to people to help the suffering children. Come to Benue and help us to stop this crisis. Let the schools in the affected areas be opened so that our children, our young ones can go back to school.

“Because if the over 15,000 children do not go back to school, that means their future is in shambles. A whole session is almost going. This is a situation that should worry the minds of everyone in this country.”

Despite the efforts of the state government, apart from education, lack of adequate space to sleep, water, security, health personnel and facilities is still a major issues in the camps visited by NAIJ.com.

Governor Ortom had promised that his government was working day and night to ensure that everyone “gets what is necessary to survive at the camps.”

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Governor Ortom has pleaded with federal government to upgrade the Exercise Ayem A’ Kpatuma to a full military operation to effectively check the ongoing killings in the state’s rural communities.

The governor who made the statement on Monday, March 19, while inspecting some IDP camps, said full army presence in the state may help to prevent the attacks.

Benue IDPs: Education amidst crisis | NAIJ.com TV