"I fled to Nigeria to find succour; I pray for peace and unity between the francophone and anglophone Cameroonians."
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has begun verification of 18,000 Cameroonian refugees in Calabar, Cross River State.
The refugees who are camped in different locations in Cross River were asked to come with their fact sheets and other relevant documents to be verified as registered refugees.
According to UNHCR, the verification is to improve its data on the economic capacities within the population and identify persons with specific needs and extremely vulnerable persons.
It also targets them for life-saving interventions, including food assistance, non-food items and livelihood support.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Calabar, Udama Stephen, a psychiatric nurse working with Red Cross Society, said the refugees were in Calabar to renew their identity cards issued by UNHCR as a source of identification.
Mr Stephen said the data with the organisation had shown that about 18,000 refugees from Cameroon would partake in the exercise. They would receive free medical treatment once they present their cards, he said.
"What we do here is also basically primary healthcare, we deal with common sicknesses like malaria, typhoid, ulcer, cold, body pains and so on, but if it is beyond the primary level, we refer them to a more complex health facility.
"Some of them are sick because they lack access to healthcare, some are physically challenged, and the majority of them don't have jobs, so the duty of UNHCR is to take care of their basic needs, which includes their health needs.
"Others include their nutrition, financial support and empowerment for the less-privileged, basically for Cameroonian refugees in Cross River," he added.
Similarly, an official of the Nigeria Immigration Service who preferred anonymity said the officers were present in the verification centre to provide security.
He said they were also ensuring that people who partake in the exercise were truly Cameroonians.
A refugee, 35-year-old Tamfu Theodoni, from North-West Cameroon, narrated his ordeal and why he decided to flee to Nigeria.
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"I was a University Campus Driver but had to flee to Nigeria after my cousin, who was also a driver, was shot in the head by Cameroonian soldiers.
"I fled to Nigeria to find succour; I pray for peace and unity between the francophone and anglophone Cameroonians," he narrated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the crisis in the anglophone part of Cameroon erupted in November 2017, following months of crackdown on protesters and strikes by teachers and other professionals in the English-speaking regions
(NAN)
