No fewer than ten thousand refugees have invaded all the refugee camps in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Ogoja refugee camp was initially established for four thousand refugees, but it’s being occupied by over ten thousand refugees; with most of them from Cameroon.
Speaking while receiving members of a socio-cultural organisation, National Association of Sea Dogs that visited the camp to donate food items to the refugees, Mr. Hilary Agida, a staff of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, lamented that the influx had over stretched the facilities in the camp.
He said an additional camp was created to accommodate the influx but that one also had been over flooded, thus, making the situation desperate for the state government alone to handle.
“There are two refugee camps here in Ogoja, one is in Adagom and the other at Akpakpanga and both camps have been witnessing steady influx of refugees effectively over stretching the facilities here and something must be done to address the situation before we witness a disaster here,” he stressed.
Consequently, Agida said that the camps are under the United Nations supervision, which registers those coming into the camp to keep a data of how many people have so far been displaced by the violence in southern Cameroon.
He explained that the fighting between those agitating for independence for the southern part of that country and security agencies started in 2017 and that the association was moved by the plight of the refugees who are going through difficult time.
Donating the foodstuff to the refugees, the Zonal President of the National Association of Sea Dogs, Prince Joseph Besong said the donation of bags of rice; tubers of yams, garri and toiletries were to assist in the upkeep of the refugees.
“These people are living without any source of income and we feel it is necessary that we should extend some assistance to them by providing them some food items and provisions for their children,” he said.
He called on the United Nations to assist in the speedy resolution of the conflict so that the refugees can return to their homes and live peacefully and develop their country.
“Outside providing a settlement for these people, the UN should intervene and ensure a speedy resolution of the crisis so that these people can take their children home and provide them adequate education,” he appealed.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar