COMINSUD and WFP Respond to Displaced IDPs in Widikum

COMINSUD and one of its main donors the World Food Program (WFP) has come to the aid of internally displaced persons in Widikum in the North West Region of Cameroon that has been hit by the close to seven-year Anglophone crisis.

Recently, on 7 February, 2024, some members of the non-state armed groups, fighting for a separate Anglophone state from mainstream Cameroon, from Akwaya Sub-Division, demanded ransoms of close to 5 million XAF each from some 15 villages (Manta I & II, Batambe, Mantoh, Ayukaba, Ombe, Ajeli, Ebanghabi, Numba, Batoh in Upper Bayang and Anjaki,Menda, Bisubia in Widikum) in the South West and North West Regions respectively.

Their inability to raise this sum led to the detention, abduction, chopping off of some villager’s fingers, killings, burning down of houses, harassment and abuse, violent confrontations and insecurity. The rising insecurity led to the displacement of about 1249 persons from Upper Bayang in the South West Region to seek refuge in Widikum and Mamfe Sub-Divisions. The influx of these displaced persons into Widikum caused a strain on already existing resources.

Concerned with this situation, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and World Food Program (WFP) together with COMINSUD organized a Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) to better understand the situation before and after the event. From the assessment, the displaced persons expressed urgent need for food, shelter, healthcare, security and non-food items (NFIs).

COMINSUD responded to the displacement by giving out buckets, jerrycans and aqua taps to some of the internally displaced persons.

WFP later commissioned COMINSUD to distribute food (27.728 MT of rice, 2.998 MT of vegetable oil and 1.274 MT of super cereal +) to 1249 beneficiaries from 401 households. The rapid response was done at the Widikum Cooperative Hall on 3 March 2024.

Eventhough  the IDPs expressed satisfaction with the gestures , by the time of this report many were still arriving Widikum on a daily basis and certainly will  need assistance.