14-Year-Old Battles For Life After Snakebite At Benue IDP Camp

At least 12 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Agagbe camps in the Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State have reportedly been bitten by snakes since January 2025.

A recent victim, 14-year-old Chagu Terhemen, was reportedly bitten on Friday while accompanying his father to the farm in Gaambe Ushin Council Ward. With no medical personnel available over the weekend, his family is said to have resorted to traditional remedies, and by Sunday afternoon, the boy was reportedly convulsing.

“We have applied traditional treatment, but it seems not to be working. The fear of losing the young man necessitated the alarm we raised. Medical personnel only visit the camps between Monday and Thursday,” fellow IDP Terna Ibaah told The Punch.

Ibaah, himself displaced by attacks, revealed that the Agagbe community has recorded 12 snakebite incidents this year alone, though no fatalities have been reported yet. Most victims, he said, have been left to rely on herbs due to delayed medical intervention.

He accused the camp manager and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) of neglecting victims, alleging that treatment was denied to Terhemen because he was not staying inside the camp facility.

“The camp manager said they cannot treat him because he is not staying in the camp, but they know that due to congestion, some registered IDPs live with host communities,” Ibaah said, adding that Terhemen’s registration number with SEMA is 81XO1649.

Currently, there are five IDP camps in Agagbe, including RCM Primary School, Sisters Convent, Saint Francis Secondary School, the old police station, and Adzequa store.

Responding to the allegations, SEMA’s Information Officer, Tema Ager, said the agency has an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, for emergency treatment of IDPs.

“As long as the victim is a registered IDP, he should be taken to the Teaching Hospital for treatment,” Ager said.

However, IDPs insist that bureaucratic bottlenecks, poor coordination, and inconsistent medical outreach worsen their vulnerability to preventable deaths.