Natives Are Struggling For Palliatives With Us – Bakassi IDPs Lament

Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the Ikot Eyo Edem community of Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State have claimed that natives are invading their camp.

They alleged that the natives struggle for any palliatives or monetary assistance from governments, groups or international donor agencies, thereby leaving them bare.

Speaking via a Save our Soul statement addressed to the Federal Government and signed by the leader of the IDP camp in Bakassi, Chief Etim Okon Ene, the IDPs lamented over the deplorable conditions in the camp, saying if not attended to, it may lead to an epidemic.

Ene also stated that their condition became worse when security agencies recently stormed the camp in search of suspected militants and kidnappers.

He explained that the operatives alleged that the suspects had turned their camp into a criminal den and accused the host community of taking undue advantage of the EndSARS protest to cart away their valuables.

He said, “As a people whose only means of livelihood is farming as we no longer have access to the sea for fishing, we are very mindful of our activities in order not to incur the wrath of the host community.

“But our experience has shown that the host community are not comfortable with the attention our plight has attracted from donor agencies.”