Boko Haram: Victims starve, abandon children in Borno

The ongoing insurgency in Borno State has taken a new dimension as the incessant onslaughts of Boko Haram sect on residents of the state and lack of food have forced many parents to abandon their children at welfare homes and flee to the neighbouring states.

Sunday Tribune learnt that shortage of food and relentless killings in the state, which has been under emergency rule since last year, was responsible for the abandonment of children and forced migration, just as a community leader in Maiduguri, Malam Saina Buba, called on the state and Federal Government to come to the rescue of people affected by Boko Haram insurgency in the state.

According to Malam Buba, many parents in Gwoza, Damboa, Bama, Konduga and Abadam in northern Borno have fled for their dear lives and dumped their children at welfare homes in Maiduguri or elsewhere.

He said feeding had become a serious problem for most families in the state, noting that this had forced some fathers and mothers to leave their children at the mercy of welfare houses.

“I am calling on the government of Borno State to act promptly; many parents are abandoning their children in search of peace and food. In the last one week or two, we have lost over 250 people to insurgency and as we speak there are a lot of people who cannot return to their houses due to this crisis,” Malam Buba added.

 He explained that philanthropists in Kano State came to the aid of victims when Boko Haram hit Kano, saying no person in Borno State had thought it wise to cater for the needs of Boko Haram victims in the state.

He accused wealthy citizens of the state of abandoning their kinsmen at home and that most of them had made Abuja their permanent abode since insurgency started in the state, stating that it would be kind of them to think of what they could do to alleviate the suffering of their kinsmen.