NO fewer than 25 pregnant women have delivered new babies at Karniya Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Dutse local government area in Jigawa State.
Reports from the state indicated that the newborn babies were delivered in less than two weeks and the babies born in the IDP camp are yet to be immunised against childhood killer diseases.
Karnaya community, which is about 23 kilometres from Dutse town, the state capital, is one of the communities ravaged by floods in Jigawa.
When Tribune Online visited the IDP camp, it was gathered that the 25 women had given birth following within two weeks of their relocation without the presence of a skilled birth attendant.
Speaking to Tribune Online, a leader in the IDP camp, Malam Falalu Ado, said that women were delivering babies in the camps without professional medical care.
According to him, “We are lucky enough to have the women delivering without complications; they are being saved by God Almighty, and nobody in the name of a government official is assisting us in the camp.”
Malam Falalu Ado expressed dismay at how the government abandoned them since they were displayed and relocated to the camps.
He alleged that life here is difficult, assistance is not forthcoming, and we are living in the mercy of God. We need food, and medical attention because there is also reported (suspected) cases of cholera outbreak in the camp.
Malam Falalu Ado disclosed that government inaction is disappointing as basic social amenities in the camp are lacking.
Malam Ado expressed appreciation to the emirs of Dutse and Gumel, Alhaji Nuhu Sunusi and Alhaji Ahmed Muhammad Sani, who sympathised and donated food items to them.
“We just finished the naming ceremony of one of the babies. He was named after the Emir of Gumel, Ahmed Muhammad Sani. We are appreciative of the kind gesture he did that is why we reciprocated and named the child after him,” he emphasised.
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The Jigawa State government established the Karniya IDP camp after over 500 structures, mostly mud houses, were submerged by the flood, forcing the entire community to relocate to uncompleted filling stations and a school in the community located on the Kano Maiduguri highway.
The situation in the camp may contribute to the child mortality rate in the state, as babies born in an open space without proper medication are more vulnerable to diseases.
When contacted through his mobile phone, the executive secretary of the Jigawa State Primary Health Care Development Board (SPHCDB), Dr Kabir Ibrahim, said the women delivering at the camp are doing so at their wish because there are at least three vehicles meant for the Emergency Transport Scheme that is meant for the free service for delivery mothers in the Karnaya community.
The executive secretary added that the government provides vehicles available in the area on standby, the women have no reason to deliver at the camp.
Dr Ibrahim explained that “following their relocation to the camp, they are closer to nearby health facilities in Dutse, Shuwarin and other places which are just 15 minutes drive.”
“Traditionally, some people use to give birth at home which is not safe, the camp is also not safe because there is no cleanliness and sterilisation, and health workers cannot attend to the delivery mother in such an environment, the best they can do is to move to the nearby facility for delivery,” he disclosed.
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