Ruptly
"Displaced families in Gbajimba shared the daily struggle to survive, as the ongoing conflict between farmers and herders in Benue state continues to drive people from their land into displacement camps, leaving them without food, income or access to education. Footage filmed on Sunday shows displaced people cooking over open fires with limited supplies and moving around makeshift structures, with abandoned and destroyed buildings also visible at the site. "Humans cannot fold their arms, while hunger kills them off, we must strive to take care of our people, no matter how small. In this camp, we are here together with our women and our children. Every day, our women and children go to the market with brooms to sweep and beg for food," said farmer Sabastin Mtonga. Monica Toryuhar, a mother of four, described how she stretches the little food she has to keep her baby fed. "Since morning, I have only prepared this millet gruel for the baby; it is the only thing that I have, and that is why he can play at all. It is only the millet gruel that I have for him, and it will soon run out. I have been managing it to make it last as long as possible." Many families in the camp lack income or government support, leaving them unable to pay for their children's schooling. "There is no one to sponsor the children in the school. As we are speaking, they are supposed to be in school, but we do not have money," shared father of five Uchaa Abraham, repeating, "We don't have money to send them to school." The crisis in Benue comes after Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security, citing widespread hunger across the country. Conflict between farming communities and herders in Benue has displaced millions and left vast tracts of farmland abandoned, deepening hunger and poverty in one of Nigeria's most agriculturally productive states."
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