Urgent humanitarian crisis in Abuja halted by direct action from Africa Arise team
By Mike Arnold, Founder of Africa Arise USA
It’s been a busy and challenging day, starting with this notice from our head man in Abuja, Pastor Jed D’Grace:
PLEASE PRAY THAT ALL EFFORTS YIELD POSITIVE RESULTS AS A DEMOLITION NOTICE WAS GIVEN TO NEW KUCHINGORO AND DURUMI IDP CAMPS.
WILL UPDATE YOU LATER IN THE DAY…
These are the camps where we run schools, with a total of 450 full-time students. The residents of these camps are victims who fled Boko Haram terror. They have no way to go home, as their properties have been given to radical jihadis.
Thousands of internally displaced people live in these camps, and there are millions more IDPs all over the nation.
The UN has denied their existence. The government there has dismissed them as homeless vagrants. The US government says religious persecution in Nigeria is of no particular concern. (See this video from November)
This is because these IDPs are smoke from the smoking gun of the most evil national and international politics. By demolishing these camps, these officials believe they can dissipate that smoke, or at least make it go somewhere else. Parts of the Durumi camp were bulldozed in 2023.
First thing after receiving this news, I reached out to my friends Reno Omokri and Dr. Panam Percy Paul, and both of these faithful, influential men swung into action.
I corresponded with the Nigerian Federal Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, a good man who undertook immediately to get a handle on the situation.
In the US, the situation was taken all the way up to the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul from Texas. He received the information from two avenues: through his staff, and also from a direct email from Amb. Lewis Lucke, an amazing friend and advisor to Africa Arise.
Here’s an update as of this afternoon here (end of Monday in Nigeria), from our team in the camps. They are young, bright and passionate. I’m very proud of them:
A REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN RESPONSE TO THE NEWS OF THE DEMOLITION OF THE IDP CAMPS
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to give an account of the activities that took place at Durumi and New Kuchingoro IDP camps in response to the news of the probable demolition of the camps. The news gotten was that they had Saturday and Sunday to pack out of the camps as the government planned to demolish them. These activities are reported as observed by the Africa Arise supervisors of both camps
The report from New Kuchingoro IDP camp is as thus:
a. Miss Praise and Miss Ruth arrived at Human Rights Radio & Tv where the residents of New Kuchingoro IDP camp had pitched their tent with the hopes that they would get an audience with the President of the radio station and will be able to air their grievances nationally in order to get the urgent help needed. The residents included the men, women and children of the camp.
b. The children of Sharing Prosperity/Arise Academy were present with their parents. They all carried placards stating their grievances.
c. Miss Praise covered the interviews of some of the camp residents and a pupil of the IDP school while Miss Ruth asked the questions. The residents stated that they had been at Human Rights since 5 am but they had not been attended to by anyone. They decided to wait in hopes that the president will see them.
d. The pupil interviewed stated that they were to start exams today but the news of the demolition disrupted that. He expressed the desire to attend school without interruptions.
f. The other residents interviewed expressed their distress of having nowhere to move to if the demolition persists as they have no land in Abuja and Borneo is still unsafe for them to live in.
g. At around 12:00 pm ,with no response from the President of Human Rights Radio, the residents decided to march to Area 1 where they will be conveyed to the office of the minister.
The report from Durumi IDP Camp is as thus:
a. Children turn out was low due to news of demolition of IDP camps.
b. The staff and corps member of Arise academy were present with the exception of Mr peter who was absent due to personal reasons.
c. Miss Deborah, Mr Biplang and corper Micheal were observing the surroundings.
d. The women, children,and men of the IDP camp came out in mass numbers with the initial intentions of protesting at the minister's office.
e. Mr Michael was on camera duty while Mr Biplang was interviewing some of the IDP residents.
f. After the interview and coverage, Mr Biplang helped in translating it to English.
g. Some of the women stated insecurity and insurgency as the main reason why they have migrated from their homeland to settle in the IDP camp while some others stated the same factor as reason why they can't go back to their homeland.
h. Placards and banners with messages for the government to intervene in their condition and situation were raised by some of the men and women as well as children.
i. There was the presence of major media houses like AIT who covered the demonstration as it went on.
j. Mr Biplang went with Mr Enoch to cover the visit of the residents to the minister's office.
k. It was reported that the group which was conveyed to the office of the minister were asked to return to the camp as only the chairman and a select few were allowed in.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the residents of the IDP camps (New Kuchingoro and Durumi) came out en masse in a peaceful demonstration to object against the demolition of the camps by the government. The residents expressed their fears and worries and are seeking help from the government through various channels. The outcome of their visit to the minister's office is yet to be determined.
By God’s grace, between the brave, grassroots efforts of our team there, and the pressure we’ve applied at higher levels, this is the most recent update we’ve received:
THE INFORMATION REACHING ME NOW IS THAT THE DEMOLITION IS NOT GOING TO TAKE PLACE AGAIN
If true, this is great news and we thank God. It does not bring them justice or restoration, but at least they have a place to live for now. Today, that is a victory.
We are working to verify and document this, and will post updates as the situation develops.
My hope is to use this horrible incident to raise awareness for these people and their traumatic plight.
If you have not done so yet, please sign the petition at www.change.org/idpjustice. These people deserve justice, and the world needs to know the truth.
CONTACT:
Mike Arnold, Mayor of Blanco Texas and Founder of Africa Arise USA
USA +1 210-286-4875
