An IDP Camp in Borno
From 2015, the campaign bites of All Progressive Congress (APC) had been Security, Economy and Good Governance, but according to overall perception of many Nigerians, harsdship and suffering are unbeaten while security crisis is becoming intractable till today. Today, whereas if is very hard to identify any state without an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, it is very difficult to comprehend why the ruling party still have the audacity to campaign for second terms in office.
Currently, Nigeria is paying a heavy price for years of protracted insecurity, with 3,725,593 internally displaced persons, IDPs, now scattered across about 3,900 camps and settlements nationwide.
Based on data from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) around the end of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in early 2015, the government was managing 20 protected IDP camps in the North-East, primarily in Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, and Taraba states.
Data compiled from the International Organisation for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix, the National Bureau of Statistics, and humanitarian agencies and government officials showed that the figure is only an estimate, as displacement patterns change frequently.
The crisis has largely been driven by insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, farmer–herder conflicts in the North-Central, and communal clashes in parts of the South.
Nigeria’s 3.726 million displaced population is larger than the population of at least 63 countries whose populations are under 3.7 million, according to United Nations population estimates.
Among countries with fewer than 3.7 million people are Uruguay (3.4m), Jamaica (2.8m), Qatar (2.7m), Namibia (2.6m) and Botswana (2.6m).
Across several northern states, the construction and maintenance of IDP camps have become a permanent feature, resembling conditions usually associated with wartime.
Although Nigeria operates a democratic system, many communities face realities akin to conflict zones, as persistent attacks from either Fulani militia, bandits or insurgent continue to uproot families and destroy livelihoods.
In many states, entire communities have been forced out of their ancestral homes due to repeated attacks by terrorists, bandits, killer herdsmen, cattle rustlers and kidnappers, who invade villages, destroy farms, abduct residents with the 15th century mentality of kill and occupy mindset that seems to be working after all.
The result is the emergence of thousands of displacement camps and thousands of homeless citizens who were forced out of their homes through no fault of theirs.
Estimated displaced persons in 36 states; Abia – 1,000; Adamawa -218,118; Akwa Ibom – 2,000; Anambra -1,500; Bauchi -66,489; Bayelsa -1,000; Benue – 500,182; Borno – 1,711,481; Cross River – 3,000; Delta -1,000; Ebonyi – 1,000; Edo -2,000; Ekiti – 500; Enugu – 500; Gombe – 52,383; and Imo – 1,000.
Others are Jigawa – 500; Kaduna -117,541; Kano -18,000; Katsina – 244,839; Kebbi -5,000; Kogi – 10,389; Kwara -1,500; Lagos -2,000; Nasarawa -23,104; Niger -21,393; Ogun – 500; Ondo – 500; Osun – 500; Oyo – 1,000; Plateau – 62,357; Rivers – 1,000; Sokoto -117,568; Taraba -101,834; Yobe -155,030; and Zamfara -276,887.
The unfortunate narrative of this endless crisis is that the figures kept rising and those in power are seeking another term? Possibly until every Nigerian is IDP or…
