OXFAM a humanitarian and development organisation has described poetry and photo exhibition as avenues to advocate and amplify the voices of people whose lives have been affected by conflict.

Costant Tchona, the Acting Country Director of Oxfam, made the statement at the Night of Poetry and Photo Exhibition, organised by the organisation in Abuja on Wednesday.

He emphasised the need for urgent attention to be given to people living in conflict areas in Nigeria.

“Today we want to tell the untold stories of the women, men, girls and boys who have been affected by the nine years of conflict in Maiduguri.

“The boy who escapes from captivity, the man who lost his son and is left with the memories and the women who are forced to sell their bodies to provide food for their children.

“Also the girl who survived a bullet wound and is left with a scar to remind her of what she had gone through.

“As you all know, the conflict in the Northeast and the humanitarian crisis is reaching its nine years, tens of thousands of people have lost their lives with no livelihood or opportunities.

“Millions of people have been displaced and still living in displacement in formal and informal segment with little or no livelihood, ’’ he said.

Tchona urged the government and the private sector to give immediate support and attention to people who need assistance.

“Over five million people need food for survival, the conflict has resulted in a major protection crisis with millions of people living in insecurity facing daily races and threat to their lives.

“Men and boys have been indiscriminately targeted throughout the conflict and many have lost their lives.

“Some have been kidnapped and others are in detention, women and girls have been subjugated to sexual harassment.

‘’Because of the conflict and due to the lack of access to food, many women and girls living in camps resort to survival in unconventional sex,’’ he said.

Also, Aurora Mathieu, the Lake Chad Basin Campaign Manager for Oxfam, said that the objectives of the exhibition were to impact the actual events in the minds of people.

She said the stories told often did not represent the actual events of what was happening in the Northeast.

“So, we wanted to give them a voice and highlight some of their stories and, especially, some of the protection issues they faced.

“To people who hear the stories and read the news but do not know of the impact of the actual events, that’s the objectives of the photo and poetry exhibition.

“We wanted to do it in an artistic way to reach to people who usually do not fellow this sort of news,’’ she said.

Mathieu said that to make the exhibition impactful, Oxfam worked with Dike Chukwumeriji, the poet, and Aishat Augie-Kuta and Fati Abubakar, the photographers.

She said that they had not seen the possibilities to do a movie “’because we are trying to respect people’s dignities and lives so fiction might not achieve the balance of reality.

“But we are working with Bimbo Akintola as our Goodwill Ambassador; she is our voice at the Nollywood level.’’

Oxfam has been working in the Northeast since 2014 and has reached over 450, 000 people by 2017, through emergency food support, clean water and improved sanitation.

The organisation advocates efficient protection of civilians and displaced persons who were freed in conflict-affected areas. (NAN)

– Feb. 1, 2018 @ 13:35 GMT