Facts About The Alleged Malnutrition In An Illegal Settlement In Enugu State

Few days ago, there was a video which went viral on social media showing a malnourished persons in a settlement in Ugba Edo Ogori, located at Amorji, Nkubo, Nike, Enugu East local government area of Enugu State. Disturbed by the condition of those seen in the video, AIF Media launched an investigation to ascertain the veracity of the viral video.

From our findings, those in the video are not indigenes of Enugu state. They are indigenes of Ebonyi state who came to the area in question to settle. Further findings show that the area they settled at Nkubo, Nike is not a community of its own but a land belonging to the renowned Catholic Priest; Rev Father Edeh.

Another online media outlet, Journalist 101.com which conducted an independent investigation on the trending video reported that the leadership of the settlement said the Reverend Father allowed them to stay in the place after he bought the land, because some of them are working in the private University situated around the settlement while many others are peasant farmers who access the vast acres of land which they cultivate at no cost.

Reporting further, the online platform stated that they were only allowed to construct a makeshift structure.
“As you can see, all the structures in this place, isn’t something solid or standard, this is because, we’re not the owners of the land. Sometime ago, the Rev Father came to tell us to get ready to vacate the land because he will be making use of the land any moment.”

They admitted that the government couldn’t assist them in building any basic amenity because the property is a private one and that they could be evicted unexpectedly.

It is believed that these people would have benefitted from public amenities provided by the state govt in communities and rural areas of the state if they had settled among the people of the state other than in a landed property owned by an individual.

It is therefore mischievous on the part of those who trended the video without investigating properly the cause of the condition of those migrants who fled their homes in Ebonyi state and illegally settled in Nkubo Nike.

Many communities in Ebony state are engulfed in communal wars forcing most of them to flee their homes. The migrants captured in the viral video at Nkubo Nike came into the area from those communities that are engaged in communal wars in Ebonyi state. They were possibly malnourished from the war raged communities before entering Enugu state. Some came with different diseases.

It is wrong for those behind the viral video to have accused the Enugu state govt of complicity without stating that these people fled from communal wars in Ebonyi state and settled at Nkubo Nike and other parts of the state illegally.

AIF Media learnt that the Enugu State Ministry of Health led by the Commissioner has visited the people and taken study of their situation. The major challenge to the state govt is that the area they occupy belongs to Rev Father Edeh and this makes it difficult for govt to provide basic amenities to ameliorate their sufferings. Though the state govt said it is working out options to assist them.

It is advised that the Ebonyi state govt should take a study of her indigenes who are fleeing various warring communities in the state and provide adequate IDP camps. This will go along way to address the problems where migrants settle in areas that could pose restrictions for govt’s intervention during emergencies.

Credit: AIF Media