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| Ahmed Abubakar, 13 years (Photo by Blogger) |
By Blogger
Powdered white from head to toe by the harsh hamatan weather which had also frozen the stream of mucous that dripped from his noses, leaving a tell-tale of a child battling with unattended flu, Ahmed Abubakar a displaced boy in his early teens walks the town of Maiduguri in tears.
He wore a ragged T-shirt over a set of jallabiya that matched with his trousers. Himself and the dresses seriously needed washing. He wore the shirt over his jallabiya to help fight the biting cold of hamatan. On his legs were two pairs of yellow socks given to him by a good Samaritan; he also had a pair of slippers.
His shabby state of being did not in anyway tell on his seeming inherent sense of confidence common with a child that had seen the four walls of a school. He was courageous as he approached this Blogger in the early morning of Saturday.
"Goods morning sir, my name is Ahmed Abubakar," he introduced himself sounding like a well disciplined school kid.
"The folks around here are contributing money for me so that I can be returned back to my village Madagali in Adamawa state; could you also help sir"?
If not for the phrase that he needed fund donation for him to be returned home, this Blogger would have dismissed him as one of the numerous streets urchins parading selves as Almajiris (Quranic pupil).
Asked why he needed fund donation to travel when all he was in the city to do was to function as the Almajiris who hardly talk about going home once they got to their destination, Ahmed eloquently gave a narrative of he was separated by his family, when Boko Haram was attacking his native home, Madagali about a month ago.
"When the Boko Haram terrorists came to attack Madagali, we were asked to run", said Ahmed.
"Many vehicles came to convey people to Yola and Maiduguri. I didn't know that my father and mother, my brothers and sisters took a different vehicle, and I was helped to get into a another different vehicle that brought me to Maiduguri. It was when we got here that I found out that my family didn't come to Maiduguri so I began to cry because I wanted to be with them in Yola".
That incident was over a month ago and no one, not even the camp officials, nor government of Borno and Adamawa states, nor the Red Cross ➕, nor the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were aware of the boy's plight until when he chose to take his destiny in his own hands.
Muhammed left the camp and took to the streets of Maiduguri crying and begging to be reunited with his family.
For days he wondered from streets to streets weeping and calling the names of his sisters, brothers and parents. He was hungry but didn't beg for alms, instead he kept on crying and asking everyone that came across to assist him.
This Blog learnt that he was almost knocked down by a vehicle before the attention of some newspaper vendors was drawn to him.
"We'd seen him loitering around for some days now and we had to call him and ask what was wrong with him", said Alhaji Muhammed Bello a veteran newspaper vendor.
"He told us his plight and we were all touched because he is just a child that barely 13 years old. We decided to keep him with us, gave him food and a good Samaritan woman brought him a set of attire to put on because all he had on was a torn trousers and shirt which he now have on top of his clothe. He had no shoes, so we bought him a pair of slippers and socks to help him fight the cold weather".
Sadly, there was no money for him to be transported home.
"When we asked about the fair to Yola, we were told that the transportation fair was about N3000 (about $15) to get him back to Yola in Adamawa state, but we don't have that money because business have gone bad since the Boko Haram insurgency, so we had to commence contribution of money and so far we were able to raise only N1000 ($5)", said Alhaji Bello.
This Blogger understand that, even the young boy was also involved in the fund gathering as his helpers encouraged him to also walk up to those who come around the newsstand and ask for their assistance - the way he confronted this Blogger.
Boy Ahmed had in an interview revealed how much he missed his family.
When asked about them, his face glowed like the sun that was suddenly given a break by a shield of clouds as he smiled and began to mention the names of his loved ones.
"I came from Madagali where I have brothers and sisters like Umama, Amira, Yaroyaro, Maisa and Amina. I want to see them again", said Ahmed.
Ahmed said he is a primary 3 pupil of Sabongari primary school in Madagali.
Though Echoes News had also contributed fund to complete the cost of transporting the young boy back to Adamawa state , it is still worrisome that such a child would be left unattended by IDP camp officials because he found himself in the wrong place.
Ahmed is just one amongst hundred of kids who may have been displaced one way or the other during the course of fleeing for dear lives. Many parents have lost their children because Boko Haram Terrorists didn't give them the chance to carry them along while shooting and killing communities in both Borno and Adamawa States.
Hundreds of children who could not account for their families now abound in IDP camps together with other kids who have been denied access to school and other basic needs of a child.
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