The town of Sebba, capital of the Yagha province in northern Burkina Faso, has been the target of attacks by jihadist groups for the past month, sowing terror in the minds of the inhabitants. The direct consequences are the confinement of inhabitants and the malfunctioning of hospitals, certain businesses and other activities. Sources of income are thus blocked, leading to famine among the inhabitants. Exasperated, people cry out for help and ask government institutions for assistance.
No access to food and drinking water. This is the calvary of the inhabitants of the town of Sebba, located in the north of Burkina Faso. The town, which has a population of around 30,000, has been under threat from jihadist groups for the past month. They spread terror in the community, which prevents economic development.
All sectors of activity are almost paralysed in Sebba.
Nothing goes on in the town of Sebba anymore, says Ulrich Crépin Namfeibona, head of mission of MSF in Burkina Faso, after a field visit at the end of July. According to him, people are facing a food crisis and a lack of drinking water.
“There are no supplies, the local market is empty, shops are closed so people have nothing to eat,” explained the head of mission of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in Burkina Faso. Ulrich Crépin Namfeibona even reported a severe lack of food, forcing people to eat leaves on a daily basis. “There is also the problem of access to drinking water, because the city’s water supply system no longer works,” pursues the head of mission of Doctors Without Borders in Burkina Faso.
The inhabitants, deprived of medical care.
The city’s hospitals have also been closed for a long time due to terrorist attacks. The town’s health workers scattered in fear. Some of them are forced to leave the country and others are confined to their homes like other inhabitants.
Access to health care is private and people do not have the possibility to get health care today in Sebba. Almost all the health workers who were there have left the locality, and those who have remained are living in the same psychosis as the population. Doctors Without Borders is therefore calling for the mobilisation of humanitarian actors and the United Nations to take urgent action to help the inhabitants.
Sebba, without drinking water and cut off from the rest of the country.
The situation in Sebba has worsened because of the destruction of the bridge linking this town to the town of Dori, the capital of the Sahel region.
“The axis linking this town to Dori is cut off and the population is now increasingly isolated,” said Ulrich Crépin. To remedy this situation of famine, traders had organised themselves to supply the locality. But a convoy of fourteen trucks was stranded in Dori after the bridge was sabotaged on 25 June, said Abdoulaye Ly, a resident of the town. Some inhabitants of Sebba had even tried to rehabilitate the bridge. Unfortunately, a new attack destroyed it completely on 26 July, cutting off the city from the rest of the country.
Charbel Ahouandjinou (stag).
