A psychiatrist, Dr Taiwo Sheikh, has described the conditions of victims of insurgency in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps as “pathetic.’’
Sheikh, the Medical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, made the statement yesterday in Kaduna in a paper he presented at the 45th Scientific Conference of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria.
In his paper, entitled: “Psychological Impact of Boko Haram Insurgency in Northern Nigeria; Focus on the Chibok Girls Abduction,’’ Sheikh said some of the victims live without food, water, medication or shelter.
He said that apart from physical, emotional and mental deprivation, some of the victims would be scared for life from emotional and physical injuries.
He said that some of the victims had either lost their lives or wounded.
He said that some of girls abducted from Chibok had been forcefully converted while others had been impregnated or married off.
The director applauded the establishment of the Trauma Working Group of Nigeria to attend to victims of the insurgency.
He said the group, consisting of psychiatrists, pediatricians, gynecologists, mental health workers, clinical psychologists and physicians, was developing a model to provide psychological intervention and support for the victims.
Sheikh commended the intervention of national and international humanitarian organisations in the plight of the victims.
He stressed the need to mobilise religious and traditional leaders in the north to explore non-confrontational options to end the insurgency.
“The fact remains that the bulk of the people in the North-West do not support Boko Haram; there is need for them to be liberated from the clutches of the group,’’ he said.
Shiekh drew the attention of politicians to the fact that unless the sect is effectively checked, there might not be a country to govern in 2015.
