Bishop Dugu of Katstina-Ala Diocese of Nigeria with some children
By Josephine Nyiakula
Most Rev. Isaac Bundepuun Dugu, Catholic Bishop of Katsina-Ala Diocese in Benue State, has offered scholarship to over two hundred and fifty (250) children leaving in IDP camps in Anyiin and Ugba towns both in Katsina-Ala LGA of Benue State.Bishop Dugu of Katstina-Ala Diocese of Nigeria with some children
Bishop Dugu announced that over two hundred Internally Displaced Person’s children in Anyiin have already been enrolled in Primary School while fifty children have been enrolled in Ugba by the Catholic Diocese of Katsina-Ala, noting that the aim is to give the IDP Children an opportunity to have access to quality education as a way of empowerment and also prevent them from becoming a menace to society in the future.
The Catholic cleric further disclosed that the children from the camps have been admitted into the following schools; St Paul’s Secondary School, Kyado, Divine Love Catholic Girls’ Secondary School and St. Gerald’s Secondary School Katsina-Ala. He added that two (2) of the children were sent a school at Enugu and that all are on full scholarship from the Diocese.
Some of the IDP camps children in their uniforms
Speaking further, the clergy reiterated the willingness of the Catholic Diocese of Katsina-Ala in providing education for all IDP children who are desirous. He stressed that the goal was to empty the IDP Camps through education since it is difficult for them to return to their ancestral land with nothing in place to forestall the incursion by armed herdsmen.
He said a primary school for the IDPs children has already been built within the premises of St Athanasius Parish, Anyiin and provided with all the basic needs of the learners to ensure that no child is denied access to education, but lamented that some of the children were born in camps and have never had access to the four walls of a classroom.Bishop Dugu cutting the tape to commission a newly built primary school for IDP camps
Bishop Dugu also promise that the children will be trained to whatever level of education possible, and would be made to spend part of their holidays with some members of the Diocesan family outside the camps to give them a sense of belonging, adding that they have become the adopted children of the Diocese.
