Yelewata attack: As challenges mount, good Samaritan provides free meals for 3500 IDPs

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Following the June 13 invasion of Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue State that claimed over 200 lives and left several others injured, many survivors of that attack were immediately moved from the community and sheltered in a temporary camp situated at the Makurdi ultra-modern International Market along Abu King Shuluwa Road.

The number of these displaced persons, which was initially about 200, gradually rose to over 3,000 and even more as people kept fleeing Yelewata and neighbouring communities for fear of more attacks.

Caregivers in the camp were left running against time to meet the needs of the displaced persons given the sudden surge in their number.    

Suffice it to state the immense support of local and international partners as well as individuals who moved in with needed interventions to ensure the well-being of the displaced persons. This no doubt eased the burden of catering for them by the government.

Some undertook the responsibility of providing money, gift packs and a host of other necessities to support the IDPs.

Of these interventions, the initiative by Jennifer Adzaugbah inescapably caught the eyes of the people who were fascinated by her doggedness and generosity as she enthusiastically mobilised young men and women to cook daily for the displaced persons.

For five consecutive days, Jennifer, who runs a restaurant in Makurdi Town, cooked in the camp and  provided free meals for the IDPs without looking back. And in the five days of the food services, she fed over 3,500 IDPs who had rations of rice, beans and something to swallow.

The IDPs were fed on June 23, 24, 25, 27 and 28 with delicacies prepared by the team led by Jennifer. The beneficiaries

And after the five days of distributing cooked food for the rowdy beneficiaries, she also took up the task of doling out raw food items and condiments to the IDPs. She also offered some of the stranded persons clothing materials to aid them warm themselves.

Her intervention in the camp caught a lot of attention as people took out time to admire and commend her efforts.

And giving the importance of food to the well-being of the IDPs and survival of humans her initiative to help and support the persons of concern in the camp became a major attraction.

  Like Dorcas in the Bible, she was commended and deeply appreciated by the beneficiaries.

One of those who complimented her initiative, Samuel Aondover, was also in the camp to donate used clothes to the displaced children. While commending Jennifer’s initiative, Aondover said: “It takes a person with loads of human kindness to dedicate her time, resources and energy to embark on this kind of intervention when we all know how much it costs today to prepare a meal for a family of five let alone hundreds of people. This is simply what it means to show empathy, generosity and compassion to the needy and I must commend the initiative”.

Explaining her motive for the free meals to the displaced persons, Jennifer said: “I am a caterer by profession and when I heard about the attack and the consequent displacement, I thought of going to the hospital to visit the ones who were hospitalised.

“And I made provision for just 200 packs of food. But when I got there I was told some persons were also being moved to the hospital from the camp because they did not have enough food at the camp at the time.

“On the first day, we hit about 700 persons or thereabout. We continued and on the second day and the third it went far more than what we expected. And on the subsequent days we had already garnered ideas from the first three days which helped us in the sharing.

“Today other people had to support me but already I have terminated cooking because I left my business hanging. So people sent in some things I had to add a little to buy raw foodstuff to come and share rather than come and cook again since I had already stopped cooking after completing five days and going into providing raw food for the IDPs to prepare for themselves.

“It has not been easy but at the end of the day when one goes back and sits down and recalls that you have given somebody food and clothe, you get fulfilled. I brought baby clothes here two days ago and when I came back here yesterday to share more, I saw some babies wearing some of the clothes I gave and I was happy. I just wanted to have the children dressed up because the first day they came into the camp almost every child had no cloth to wear. So I am happy that the little we are extending is going far.

“For the five days, we cooked here we were able to reach 3,500 persons. More than half of what we expended here was from my pocket. Within the five days I cooked I had to shut down my business and put in my resources to lift the spirit of the displaced persons. It gives me so much joy to lift their own broken spirit and I feel fulfilled seeing them picking up their bits and pieces once more,” she said.

She explained that her motivation was to challenge God to bless her business. “Moreover I am a giver by birth. I believe in giving, when I give I am happy. It gives me fulfilment when I give out. It is my act of giving that helps my life,” she added.

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