By John Mkom

JALINGO—The internally displaced persons, IDPs, in Taraba State have raised alarm that they are living and sleeping with dangerous snakes, rats and other animals in the camp located at Mutum-Biu, headquarters of Gasol Local Government Area of the state.

They disclosed this when an NGO, Marry&Prolific Entertainment, visited the camp to donate food items to them.

The NGO visited the camp with food items, including bags of rice, tubers of yams, cartons of noodles, assorted soft drinks and cash to aid the people.

Briefing the visitors on their challenges in the camp, those who spoke claimed they had been finding it very difficult to cope with the situations, lamenting that many of them had lost their loved ones to lack of food and medical facilities in the three years they had lived in the camp.

Malliam Watki, a 78-year-old woman, who was displaced by the Wukari crisis, told Vanguard: “Recently, we have been living with dangerous snakes in our rooms here. We also live in the same rooms with rats and other animals.

“The recent snake we found in my room was a big python. We struggled to kill the snake for nine days. It would run and hide in places where we could not find it. It was very difficult before outsiders came and helped us to kill it.”

The coordinator of the IDPs camp, Mallam Inusa Bala, while receiving the items, lamented that the displaced persons in the camp were going through hardship due to various sicknesses, hunger and starvation.

He said: “At the time we came to the camp, we were up to 9,000. Some of us particularly children, died from different deceases, hunger and starvation.

“Some left to seek for means of survival, while others were fortunate to get back to their homes. We are now about 4,000 persons.”