793 Camerounian refugees decry neglect by home govt

Posted: Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Seven hundred and ninety-three Camerounian refugees, who have been in Benue for more than three years, have accused their home government of neglecting them. The Francophone country's nationals said on Saturday in Kwande, Benue,  that they were surprised at their neglect by the Cameroonian government and pleaded that they be repatriated home.
The refugees migrated into Nigeria in  January 2008 following a crisis between Oliti and Yive, both in Akwaya sub-division of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. They expressed regret at the silence over their alleged neglect over the years, saying that they were surviving on the goodwill of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which recently distributed farming kits to them in Ityuav.
Ityuav community is located on the Nigeria-Cameroun border in Menev Ward, Ikurav-ya district, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue.
Chief Small Avo, their leader, urged the Cameroonian government to, as a matter of urgency, commence the process of their return, and thanked the UNHCR and NCFR for taking care of them since their migration in 2008.
He also expressed his people's gratitude to the host community as well as the Benue government.
 Madam Hadiza Sani Kangiwa, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission For Refugees (NCFR), however, said that they would return home when the circumstances which forced them to leave their homes might have improved.
 "It is not for us to determine; we hope that the relevant ministries, especially  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the government of Cameroun, will be able to facilitate and discuss voluntary repatriation of such persons," she said.
She said that her task was simply to take good care of them and proffer amicable solutions to the crisis that forced them off their abodes.
 Kangiwa noted that of the 3,000 refugees that came into Iyuav in 2008, only 793 were still in Nigeria.
 "We hope that what we have been giving them will be able to assist them here and also when they return to their country," she said.
Also speaking, Madam Gogo Hukportie, the UNHCR representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, expressed happiness over the high level of hospitality being demonstrated by the host community throughout the stay of the refugees.
On their continued stay in Nigeria, Hukportie said that the Commission had contacted the Cameroonian government.
"We have contacted the Cameroonian government, but it is a pity that they have not acted as we thought they should."
She said that the UNHCR, in collaboration with NCFR, has provided items worth N7 million to the refugees between 2008 and 2010.