Horrible conditions of Benue’s IDPs camps harbouring 33,000 malnourished children as EU, UNICEF, ILO launch social protection initiative

 

From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi

On June 29, Mrs Sewuese Iorwuese, an Internally Displaced Person, (IDP), in Agagbe, Gwer West Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State had a still birth. After nine months of expectation, she was devastated.

 

 

It was not just  bad news to all the occupants of RCM Primary School IDP camp where Sewuese have been squatting for years, it was an emotional moment for them all after they waited patiently to celebrate with her on her return with the new baby. But the baby, Daily Sun learnt, was dead before it could be born.

 

 

Mrs Iorwuese has five children. This was supposed to be her sixth child. She hails from Tse Chuada in Sengev Council Ward of Gwer West LGA of the state. She and her people were displaced by armed herdsmen in 2021 and  she has been taking shelter in the camp with registration number 90X01517 in block 4 RCM Primary School IDP camp Agagbe.

The former Chairman of Agagbe IDP camp, Jacob Ibaah, told the reporter: “When labour started at about 4pm, the woman had no money to go to hospital. The women with her in the camp tried to help to no avail. So when the situation became unbearable, she was rushed to St Francis Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) Agagbe for treatment but it was too late. The baby girl came out dead.

“The nurse handling the case, Mrs Nyashar Beatrice, explained that this happened because of malnutrition and lack of medication for the pregnant woman. After the birth, she lacked financial strength to access medication.”

Ibaah called for assistance to help treat and save the new mother.

In Benue State, this is one case out of the numerous heart-rending stories of pathetic situation of IDPs in the camps. Sustained herdsmen attacks, over the years, have displaced millions of residents and snatched livelihoods from families.

A people who depended on land to feed themselves and the nation are now living like refugees in their homeland. Following these attacks, the state has established 14 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, after closing and relocating others, to accommodate the displaced persons while majority other persons are squatting with relatives and other people in host communities.

While in Agagbe camp, a child could not be born because the mother was malnourished and lacked medical care, thousands of other children are also languishing in the state. Recently, the state Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde, disclosed that in those camps and host communities are 33,000 malnourished children.

These children have been living in very horrible conditions, some with their parents, others unaccompanied, having lost both parents to the attacks. In those camps, a meal is luxury while something that looks like it comes only once in a month when the state government embarks on the monthly food distribution to IDPs or when good spirited individuals and organizations come visiting.

Kunde said: “These 33,000 children are across the entire Benue both in camps and host communities.

“If you go to Agatu, Apa and Otukpo LGAs, they are not in the camps but in the host communities. Likewise, Kwande is not in the camp and Ukum is not also in the camp. In Ukum, they are either in Ayati or in Zaki Biam.”

The recent attack on Yelwata community in Guma LGA on June 14, which led to the death of over 200 people, including women and children, further caused more devastation and swelling the figured. According to UNICEF records, following the attack on Yelwata community in the state, over 1000 displaced children have so far being immunized in the new camp alone. This record was given at the end of June 2025.

However, relief came their way recently when the federal government, in collaboration with Benue State government and foreign partners launched two projects for IDPs in the state.

On June 25, 2025 the European Union, EU, in collaboration with UNICEF, and ILO as well as the Nigerian government, launched the €13 million European Union funded Supporting Sustainable Social Protection System in Nigeria (SUSI) project in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

The same day, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Nantawe Yilwatda, flagged off the distribution of blended enriched flour for malnourished children in the state.

The SUSI project which will be implemented by UNICEF and ILO,  aims to strengthen social protection systems to better respond to shocks, reduce poverty, and protect vulnerable populations, including children, women, persons with disabilities, and those affected by conflict and displacement.

Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, described the violence in Benue is a painful reminder of how vulnerable communities are to shocks. He said the EU is helping to build stronger, more inclusive social protection systems through this partnership so that no one is left behind in a crisis.

Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, added: “When families are forced to flee violence, lose their livelihoods or face poverty, social protection becomes a life-saving measure. The SUSI will help create systems that can respond quickly and reach those most in need, especially children, before their lives are permanently derailed.”

Vanessa Phala, Director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, stated: “Social protection is a right and a foundation for social justice. This project will strengthen the policy and legal frameworks, data systems, and financial mechanisms that ensure people have the security and opportunity to live in dignity.”

The Minister, Nantawe Yilwatda, who captured the feelings at Benue IDP camps during his visit said: “We saw the sorrow in the eyes of mothers who had lost everything. We walked in the Teaching Hospital among children who are now without shelter, without certainty, and in some cases, without parents. The visit was a confrontation with our collective responsibility, and a reminder that for many Nigerians, vulnerability is a daily reality.”

He, however, stated that “Our hope is nenewed because the launch of the SUSI project is a lifeline for these vulnerable groups. It is a deliberate effort to say: never again should a community fall through the cracks of our safety nets.

“To those widows, orphans and the displaced in Yelwata, and to the thousands like them, I say today, we have seen you, we have heard you and we will remember you. Through these partnership and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu, we will build systems that will not forget you.

“The SUSI project, with its €10 million funding from the European Union, implemented by UNICEF and the ILO, complements our national efforts, like the National Social Register, the Conditional Cash Transfers, our durable solutions, and the National Social Safety Nets Programme (NASSP).

“This project is coming at the right time with right partners and building on the right foundation. Our common goal is to make social protection in Nigeria inclusive, shock-responsive, and permanent.

He expressed appreciation to the European Union saying their  support is felt in the tents of the displaced, in the dignity of a widow receiving support, and in the tears of a child who will now have food and sleep under shelter.

H advised the Benue State government, under the leadership of Rev. Fr  Hyacinth Alia to “let this project work. Own it. Embed it in your institutions. Let Benue show Nigeria that even from ashes of this trauma, we can build transformation.”

Nantawe assured that even in the soil of sorrow, the federal government is planting the seeds of justice and dignity, saying: “Through SUSI, through our reforms, and through partnerships like this, we are proving that humanity can win, even in the darkest places.”

During the flag off of distribution of blended and enriched flour to IDPs in the state, the minister said the federal government is particularly concerned about the health of the children, intimating that it secured  over 70,000 blended and enriched flour from the regional food security reserve of ECOWAS to distribute to children in the IDP camps to enhance their food nutrition.

Benue State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde, who gave the figures of over 33,000 malnourished children in IDPs camps and host communities, said the people have been profiled for onward distribution.

“We profiled the proposed distribution, we mentioned all the camps and host communities. The blended enriched flour for malnourished children are 7,760 cartoons and will be distributed to the target population across the state,” Kunde said.