Pregnant IDP found dead after leaving camp to search for food

A heavily pregnant internally displaced woman has been found dead after leaving an informal IDP camp in Mokwa, Niger State, to gather cassia tora, locally known as ‘Tafasa’, for breakfast.

The woman was reportedly attacked and killed along a railway line in Mokwa, the headquarters of Mokwa Local Government Area, on Sunday morning.

A resident, Malam Mohammed Umaru, who confirmed the incident, said the woman left the camp around 8am to gather the plant, which displaced persons reportedly eat as food.

According to him, the woman did not return, prompting other displaced persons and residents to search for her.

“She left the camp to get ‘Tafasa’ which they often eat. She did not return and people went in search for her and found her dead,” Umaru said.

He said the woman was among displaced persons who fled communities in Kwara State following attacks by suspected terrorists and had been staying with other IDPs in an uncompleted building behind Dufya Primary School.

Umaru alleged that the woman was stabbed and that her unborn baby had been removed from her womb.

“The woman is an internally displaced person due to bandits’ attacks. They live in an uncompleted building close to Dufya Primary School.

“She left the camp to get ‘Tafasa’ which they often eat. She did not return and people went in search for her and found her dead. Her stomach was cut and baby was removed. Only God knows who did that,” he said.

The incident has raised fresh concerns over the safety of displaced persons living in makeshift settlements in the area.

The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to a message seeking confirmation of the incident as of the time of filing this report.