VOA标准英语2009-Displaced Niger Delta Residents Seek to Retu

Many of the people displaced in the Niger Delta¹ by the current military offensive say they are eager to return home. We report from the makeshift camp at Ogbe Ijoh where supplies and patience are in short supply.
　
A fleeing Ijaw woman baths her child in a canoes prior to their evacuation Ogbe-Ijoh jetty in Niger Delta town of Warri (File)

Thousands of people have run for their lives in the past two weeks as the army pounded militants² strongholds with helicopter gunships and ground troops. Crammed³ into a refugee camp and compelled to sleep on concrete classroom floors, the displaced civilians⁴, all of them women and children, are eager to return home. Rose Adams was one of them.

"We want to go to our villages, because here we are not living a good life," said Rose Adams. "No place to sleep, we are just sleeping on the floor, which is not good for us. We are begging that the [traditional] rulers will help us to appeal to the federal government to call [its] soldiers back so that we can be able to go to our villages freely without any problem or shooting or war."

Christy Ogbe, another of the nearly 4,000 displaced people at the Ogbe Ijoh camp says the presence of the military in the creeks⁵ of the delta is a source of anguish⁶ for most residents.

"I am begging the federal government to take JTF [Joint Military Task Force] away from our place so that we can go home, because the mere⁷ sight of them is hypertension to most of our people," said Christy Ogbe.

The Niger Delta's 20 million inhabitants are mainly fishermen or families who make a living on the region's vast water sources. Martins Osowa of the National Emergency Management Agency says being left with no means of earning a livelihood⁸ has compounded the misery⁹ of the displaced.

"That sea route is their means of livelihood," said Martins Osowa. "The moment they cannot sell their catch or do any trading, they are not in good shape."

Lagos-based Rural Africa Health Initiative is among aid groups mobilizing to assist inmates¹⁰ at the Ogbe Ijoh camp. Group leader Dr. Showemimo Fredinas spoke¹¹ to VOA.

"Today, we are here in Warri to see the refugees as a result of the crisis in the riverine area of the state," said Showemimo Fredinas. "We have just presented some relief materials in the form of blankets, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and oral dehydration¹² salt to help in taking care of the displaced persons."

The Nigerian government has been criticized for restricting aid agencies' access to the creeks, where some reports estimate hundreds of civilians may have been killed and tens of thousands displaced by the fighting.

A military-sponsored tour for two aid agencies took place last week, and provided an opportunity to assess what was left of the local communities. A senior official of the Nigerian Red Cross, Augustine Egbero, who was on the trip, told VOA the degree of destruction was not as widespread as previously¹³ speculated.

"We were in Oporoza, we saw Kurte, but we did not enter Krute," said Augustine Egbero. "We were in Azama, we were in Ote Ijoh or something like that, then Kulukuluma. It was not as they are saying it. There were houses still standing¹⁴ there. Like in Oporoza, two visible compounds were affected¹⁵, invariably Tom Polo's house and the king's palace. Krute had some houses burnt, it is much in Krute. We could not get to Okerenkoko."

This may be great news for anxious displaced residents of the Niger Delta. The implication is that they may be able to return home as soon as the fighting stops.

1 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

6 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

9 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

10 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。