Home for the Needy Foundation: Reshaping Future of IDPs

By Deborah Coker, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
 

Tada Ayuba was displaced from his community in Borno by the Boko Haram insurgency in 2014, and in the process, he lost his mum.

He was homeless, hopeless, and traumatised until he found refuge in the Home for the Needy Foundation in Uhogua, Benin City, Edo.

Ayuba then attended the foundation’s school, which covered his primary and secondary education.

He proceeded to the university, where he graduated with First-Class Honours in law in 2025.

Ayuba’s story is no different from that of Amos Ishaku, a 27-year-old former IDP who graduated with a First-Class degree in Chemical Engineering from Edo University, Uzairue, in November 2023.

Ishaku is now on his PhD programme at the University of Illonois, Chicago, U.S.

Ishaku said he was a Senior Secondary 2 student of Federal Science and Technical College, Lasa, Borno in 2012, when he had his first experience with Boko Haram.

“That night, they attacked about three communities, Michika, Lasa, and Bile; they started burning, looting, and shooting and even got into our school.

“To escape, we had to jump over the fence and run into the bush where we slept; the attack led to the closure of the school indefinitely.

“I cannot say whether the school is still closed now but that put a temporary halt to my education.

“After the closure, I had to leave for Poko, my own community. I encountered Boko Haram fighters and two incidents are still fresh in my memory.’’

He recalled an attack where his driver abandoned the vehicle, forcing everyone to run for their lives.

“I later learned that two people died during that incident; secondly, they attacked Poko, my own community, and many others in 2012; it was that attack led us to run to the mountains.

“We lived in caves for months thinking that the insurgency would die down but it did not; so we had no other choice but to remain in the mountains.

“It was difficult to leave because the Boko Haram members started mounting roadblocks; it was difficult to go to Cameroon and Gworza in Nigeria.

“In the night, people took the risk of crossing to Cameroon, some were lucky while others were killed. So the only option left was to cross the mountains and go to the next town,’’ he said.

Ishaku said he came to the Uhogua Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Edo in 2014 to seek refuge from the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno, having previously dropped out of school for over three years.

These two testimonies are just a few from the IDPs currently under the care of the Home for the Needy Foundation, an IDP camp.

According to the Founder/Coordinator of the Camp, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, no fewer than 400 of the IDPS are currently studying various courses in several universities across the country.

“Today, we have over 400 of them in several universities in Nigeria studying professional courses like Medicine, Law, Engineering, Accounting, Nursing, Philosophy, and more.

“We have more than 185 graduates among them already; some are Medical Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Engineers, Accountant, among others.

“Recently, five of our law graduates were called to the Nigerian Bar, and 11 medical doctors, along with nurses have been certified into their respective professions.

“One of them, Ishaku, is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in University of Illinois, Chicago, U.S. after graduating with a First-Class Honours in Chemical Engineering and winning all the awards.’’

Other notable graduates include Dawa Yusuf (Business Administration), Alhaji Yusuf (Electrical and Electronic Engineering), and Ayuba (Law), all of whom earned First-Class Honors. Notably, Ayuba also won several awards for academic excellence at the University of Benin.

Folorunsho explained that the Home for the Needy Foundation was established in 1992 to cater for the needy and vulnerable persons in the society.

He said that the society needed someone to care for the vulnerable, including orphans, street children, children from broken homes, poor families, widows and others in similar situations.

“We began by catering for just four persons and gradually within a few months, it grew to 700.

“In 2012, as people fled insurgency in the North-East and across Nigeria, we experienced a surge of thousands of persons flocking to our centre who suffered so many traumas; seeing their parents slaughtered in their presence, their mothers raped, pregnant women ripped open, their sisters abducted, etc.

“We extended our hands of assistance by offering refuge to the victims who became orphans, half-orphans, widows, traumatised and internally displaced persons.

“We gave them shelter, food, clothing, emotional support, primary healthcare and quality education from kindergarten to tertiary.

“Our foundation has also produced a magistrate, as well as a senior state counsel in the Ministry of Justice, Edo.

“It is also pertinent to note that our students continue to perform excellently in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination every year with some scoring 300 and above.

The founder said that in spite of the successes recorded by the Home for the Needy, it still faced different challenges.

According to him, the foundation does enormous works which involves caring for people from infants to the aged, people with disability, and people who are traumatised.

“In view of this, we need substantial support to meet their basic and educational needs; these include food stuffs, medical care, accommodations, school fees among others.

“Many of our students in higher institutions including those in their final year are currently unable to pay their school fees resulting to some of them not been allowed to write their examinations.’’

He, however, commended the daughter of the Edo Governor, Eghogho Okpebholo, who came to the aid of one of the students (Yusuf) by clearing his outstanding school fees to enable him to graduate.

“Humanity is when society shows kindness to the weak, the neglected, the orphans, the displaced, and those whom others may consider downtrodden.

“It is also imperative to make mention of Luka Bamayi, an abandoned and physically challenged person, who today would have been in the street begging for alms if humanity had not met mankind. But he found us and today he is now a 400-level student of Medicine and Surgery.

“Every child carries special gifts within them, even those who come to us broken, frightened, and without hope.

“When we provide food, shelter, love, education, and opportunity with the enabling environment, they can become like any of us,’’ he said.

Observers say with your proper support and partnership, the foundation can produce more doctors who heal, lawyers who fight for justice, engineers who build,  nurses who care, and good citizens who make our society safer and better. (NANFeatures)