Shortage of food, drugs, and other relief materials have hit Southern Kaduna communities following serial attacks by gunmen suspected to be Fulani militia.
Four Local Government Areas including Zango-Kataf, Kaura, Kauru and Jemaa have been under persistent attacks for some days now, forcing the state government to impose a 24-hour curfew on the affected communities.
Following the week-long attacks and the curfew in place, hunger has crept into the affected communities made up of mostly subsistence farmers who could no longer go to their farmlands or markets.
It was also learnt that aged women and children were evacuated from the affected communities to Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in the state.
A farmer, Jatau Mutum, told our correspondent that since Saturday, the IDPs camp at Zonkwa had witnessed an increased number of vulnerable persons from the communities under attack.
He said, “Before now, the ECWA church camp was sustaining no fewer than 1500 IDPs but we have over 3000 displaced persons following the recent attacks on the communities.”
Spokesperson for the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, Luis Binniyat, told The PUNCH that on a daily basis, the union was being besieged by calls from families who were starving because “there is no market and farming activities have come to a stop”.
“You know, we have four LGAs that are under 24-hour curfew and those who have money in the bank cannot move out. Both the federal and state governments are not ready to look into the plights of the displaced persons in Southern Kaduna,” he added.
(Punch)
