Umar is a 16year old child from Madagali Local government area of Adamawa state. Madagali has an estimated population of over 200, 000. Though being a native of Madagali, Umar moved to Bita community of Gwoza with his parents and his sister when he was just 5-year-old. His parents were farmers and he and his sister assisted their parents with the farming activities. His Father died while growing up and his sister got married and moved to Izge, another community in Gwoza LGA of Borno state, while Umar remained with his mother. Bita was attacked and seized by boko haram and he and his mother flee to Madagali for safety.
According to Umar, it wasn’t long before boko haram attacked and seized Madagali in 2014, so many lives were lost and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed. Unfortunately they could not flee. When the military attempted to retake Madagali, boko haram took them and moved to Sambisa forest where they lived with the insurgents for over a year and half. He and his mother were forced to farm for the armed groups during their stay.
Along the line his mother took ill and died as a result of no medication. “I wanted to save her life because she was the only thing that made me strong and helped me survived in this world but I couldn’t” said Umar. After the death of his mother, life became very tough and lonely for this child as it became very difficult for him to even feed.
One day he decided to sell a bag of his mother’s corn that she had left in order to get something to eat. He was caught by the armed opposition group and accused of stealing, as they said he didn’t take permission to sell his late mother’s property. Judgement was passed on him and he was tied up, beaten and his right hand was cut. He was practically left for death and was unconscious for days. Somehow he was treated by someone and started recovering. One night he escaped from the forest into fem bush where he met another survivor, Zarau. Umar said they walked 3 days while pushing an old man in a wheel barrow. They didn’t eat anything or meet anyone on the way until they got to Damboa town where they were picked up by the Nigerian Military and handed over to the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF). They were later placed in the Unity camp in Damboa after a couple of days.
Zarau became his caregiver ever since. Having been through all these traumatic experiences, he was traumatized, withdrawn and mentally unstable. He was filled with so much sadness which also made him very aggressive sometimes. Life in the camp was hard for both him and his caregiver as they had no source of income and would only rely on food provided by other humanitarian actors which was barely enough and wouldn’t last till the next distribution. Sometimes they had to beg to eat and there were days where there was nothing at all to eat.
In march 2019, Intercommunity Development Social organisation (IDS) in partnership with Street child (SCoN) implemented the child protection project in Damboa and Umar through the caseworker identified and registered his case with a care plan designed to provide psychosocial stability, provide his caregiver with a means of livelihood and also trace and reunify him with his sister.
Psychosocial assessment was conducted for him and a tailored Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) plan was drawn for him. Counselling commenced for this child and he was also enrolled for the Child Friendly Space activity. Umar started taking part in the activities and he enjoyed playing football. His caregiver was given the sum of N20, 000 to enable her start up a business to cater for his needs and tracing was carried out to find his sister. Life gradually started becoming better for Umar as he started making friends and enjoyed his football. He was also able to feed at least 3 times a day.
In June 2019, Umar’s sister was found in Gwoza by the Street child Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) officers. She was brought to Damboa and both of them were reunified. It was a very teary day for both siblings as they had not seen each other in 7years; words could not come out of their mouths, for hours both of them could not talk but just cry. This was one of the best things that had happened to this child in years. “I honestly don’t know what to say, but I am grateful that IDS/SCoN was able to locate me and also reunify me with my sister. I would never forget what you have done for me and I pray that Allah continue to bless you and give you strength to help other children like me” said Umar. Both siblings have since moved to Gwoza, and have also been supported with food and non-food items.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!