See The Inside Of Boko Haram Refugee Camp In Abuja

The Boko Haram insurgency has taken a
toll on the socio cultural and religio-
politico lives of almost all Nigerians.
In the north east, nothing can ever be
the same again.
Families have been broken, bread
winners killed, entire communities
ransacked as the insurgents have
imposed their surrogates as satraps.
The aborigines of those communities
have fled for safety and now find
themselves in various refugee camps,
now called Internally displaced persons
camps all across the country.
At the end of the fist half of the year,
there are an estimated 2million people
living in internal displacement.
Refugees in an IDP Camp in Yola,
Adamawa State Most of these camps are
spread around Borno, Yobe, Adamawa
and other places in the North east
where living conditions are horrendous.
There are also a few of these camps
located within the pristine federal
capital, and one- the Gwoza/Bama IDP
right in the heart of town, just a stone
throw from the Federal Secretariat in Area 1.
ICA was in this camp to see things for
himself when Power Forward Africare
Project took students of 5 FCT secondary
schools there for community work.
The Power Forward Africare project is a
collaboration between the National
Basketball Association (NBA), Africare
NGO – a youth empowerment initiative
that uses basketball to develop health,
leadership and life skills among Nigerian youth.
Officials of Africare Officials of Africare &
Power Forward Africare & the Students
Secondary school students in FCT The
curriculum incorporates leadership
training and health awareness through
a combination of classroom and athletic
activities, with student evaluations at
different stages of the initiative.
In addition, each school has a coach
assigned to oversee the curriculum,
guide students through lessons, and
monitor progress.
The Power Forward pilot program was
launched in 2013 in partnership with
the NBA, Africare, ExxonMobil and local
school and education officials.
The second season of the Power
Forward pilot program include
basketball games, clinics, life skills
seminars and community work which
took students from Bicardo, Divine Mercy
and three Government secondary
schools in Wuse, Garki and Karu to the
IDP camp in Durumi.
The initiative provided food, toiletries,
mosquito nets to the inhabitants while
also engaging in sanitation to keep the
surroundings clean.
Several displaced persons who spoke to
ICA on their condition thanked Africare
& Exxon Mobil for coming to their aid.
They also hoped civil society will engage
more with them and government to
bring more succor to their camps, while
also pushing government for a quick
resolution of the insurgency problem so
they can go back to their ancestral
homes.