A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Healthy and Smart Children Foundation (HSCF), in partnership with the Auxano Foundation and Yudee Excel Foundation, in their Pandemic Communicare Project, has carried out a free medical outreach at the Wassa Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the Federal Capital Territory.
The NGOs, made up of a team of doctors, nurses, medical laboratory scientists, water treatment experts, human rights lawyers, among others, on Saturday undertook the diagnosis, treatment and counseling of many IDPs in the Wassa camp.
Drugs distributed to the IDPs include anti-hypertensive drugs, anti-diabetic drugs, multivitamins, worm drugs, anti-malaria drugs, anti-typhoid drugs, while free HIV tests, hepatitis, glucose, diabetic and other tests were carried out on some of the IDPs, even as serious cases were referred to hospitals in the FCT.
In an exclusive interview, Founder of the Healthy and Smart Children Foundation (HSCF), Dr Christian Oko, said that he was moved by the pathetic situation of the IDPs to mobilise other NGOs to intervene in their plight through the medical outreach.
He said: “I visited this camp with members of my team few days ago on an assessment tour and we were not impressed with what we met on ground. We saw a camp of sick, malnourished men, women and children displaced by insurgency in the Northeast and seeking shelter far away from home in the FCT, but evidently abandoned by government.
“At the Healthy and Smart Children Foundation (HSCF), since founded in 2017, we have been championing the overall well-being of Nigerians, especially less privileged children, hence we needed no second invitation to mobilise other NGOs of like-minds to offer free medical services to the Wassa IDPs, who are said to be more than 5,000, including pregnant women, children, girls and unemployed men.
“As you know, Nigeria is the second country in the world with highest cases of infant mortality, so it was a concern for us to meet a camp of malnourished women and children, who we heard have been dying of different treatable ailments. Wassa is the worst IDPs camp we have ever visited. They lack everything you can think of for human survival.
“They lack potable water. In fact, you need to see the source of the water they drink. It is not fit for an animal to consume, let alone IDPs in Wassa camp. No wonder they have been falling sick and dying on a daily basis. We will make effort to clean their water. We also hope to drill borehole for them in the future, at least to solve their water problems. We can only do our best as an NGO as we lack sponsorship and have been funding our outreaches through individual donations and support from friends and public spirited individuals.
“I particularly demand for government to intervene in the plight of the IDPs. It is not fair to camp people here and then abandon them to their fates. I shed tears because of the IDPs I met with different avoidable and treatable ailments. While they can take steps to protect their health, it is imperative that government should take urgent steps to provide basis amenities for the comfort and survival of IDPs in Wassa camp.”
Also speaking, a Trustee of Auxano Foundation, Barr. Mary Igoh, applauded the effort of the team for the laudable initiative of taking medicine and hope to people living in secluded places like Wassa.
On behalf of the team, she also expressed gratitude to Gaudiem Esp Pes Institute, Abuja, for supporting the medical outreach by providing vehicles for the mobility of volunteers.
She “We also appreciate the priest in charge of Christ the King Catholic Church in Wassa IDPs camp, Rev. Fr. Stephen Meseda, for helping to organise the IDPs and offering the church as venue for the outreach.
“It is a fundamental human right for all persons to have access to social security. The government has to look at the plights of IDPs in Nigeria to help communities treat the root causes of the sicknesses and abuses suffered by people we come across. Can you imagine that there is no single toilet facility in this location?
“They all engage in open defecation, thereby exposing the women to risk. I heard of a case of a teenage girl, who was raped and impregnated by another IDP. Of course, such cases account for the growing number of children littered in the camp. They get pregnant easily and bring fort children to add to the poverty circle.”
One of the beneficiaries of the outreach, Mrs Aisha Musa, who hails from Gosa in Borno state and who spoke through an interpreter, appreciated the NGOs, saying she has been falling sick over the months and was grateful for the medical outreach.
She said: “I came to this came in 2015 from Gosa in Borno state as we were chased away from our village by Boko Haram insurgents. We have been abandoned by government. We lack many things here. No school, no water, no clinic, no light and other basic amenities for human beings to survive. We farm to survive as they are no jobs especially for our men. Many of us have been falling sick and dying especially during childbirth.
“However, I am grateful for this intervention by the NGOs. It’s been long we have had this kind of outreach. I was diagnosed of malaria and typhoid and given drugs to take. I also received drugs to help my body system. My children and friends also received different drugs, especially my friend who is diabetic. May God bless the different NGOs to continue doing more for the less privileged.”
