“We want to be able to live like we did in the past before all these conflicts started, where we can freely move around our community without fear, where we can go to our farms and work without the fear of being attacked or even killed…”
The reoccurring conflicts and violent clashes in communities in the southern part Kaduna state Nigeria has continued to linger unabatedly and poses a constant threat to the future of families in the area.
These violent conflicts and clashes have ultimately resulted to the deaths of so many people, destruction of properties and farmlands and displacement of thousands from their homes.
Mrs. Ruth Tete, a 67-year-old mother of ten and grandmother of thirty whose only occupation is farming is one woman who had to deal with this situation.
In her account of how the most recent of these violent clashes affected her and her family, Ruth said, “We really suffered, I lost a sibling and some relatives, my house was burnt down including all of our life’s possession in it, no food to eat and we can’t sleep, our children and grandchildren are looking up to us to protect them, we had nowhere to run go, all we could do was cry.”
Ruth added that even after the crises had past, they still live in fear. “We cannot go to our farms because we are scared, we only cultivate small portions at our backyards, but going into the bushes to our big farms where our livelihood depends is out of the question.
The situation also affected our children’s schooling, they had to stop because their books and all their clothes including their uniforms were burnt and because we are unable to go to the farm, we cannot meet their financial needs,” she said.
Despite the sad experience, Mrs. Ruth Tete has high hopes and expectations for the future. “What we want now is peace, we really need peace. We want to be able to live like we did in the past before all these conflicts started, where we can freely move around our community without fear, where we can go to our farms and work without the fear of being attacked or even killed, we want our children to return back to school just like they used to. These are my hopes and expectation for the future.”
Mrs. Ruth Tete’s story is just one out of thousands who are engulfed in similar situation at the moment with high hopes for a breath of fresh air and a brighter tomorrow.
You can help bring hope to families like Ruth’s by supporting a grassroots interfaith campaign initiated by Global Peace Foundation in Nigeria, inspiring Christian and Muslim leaders and Nigeria’s traditional tribal leaders to join hands and reject violence. Learn more about the One Family under God campaign and start helping today.
