Disgraceful Plight of Nigeria’s IDPs By Odiawa Ai

The virtual abandonment of millions of internally displaced persons notwithstanding the billions of naira budgeted for their care is a gross abdication of responsibility by the federal and state governments. Affected by conflicts and catastrophic events, over 3.5 million Nigerians have fled their homes and depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. All levels of government owe IDPs an obligation to care for them, and in the end return them to their homes in safety.

Recent reports of their predicament portray a misleading neglect of these countrymen who have fallen into contemptible hopelessness through the indiscretion and insufficiency of the Nigerian state.

The North-East accounts for half of the displaced persons, with more than 304 camps and more than 2,000 areas across the region, say aid organizations.

Nigeria additionally has around 73,000 refugees from 23 nations, while more than 500,000 Nigerians are awaiting repatriation from Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Mali, Libya, and other nations, as per the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons. Dire and practical measures should be taken to resettle the displaced persons in their home communities as soon as it is safe to do so.

In the meantime, a huge number of IDPs in Zamfara State have reportedly become beggars and scavengers, years after they were sacked from their towns by bandits, illustrating the disregard and hardship of casualties and the government’s inability to protect them.

Many are presently taking shelter in uncompleted public structures, motor parks and markets within Gusau, the state capital.

Numerous communities in Benue State similarly displaced by lethal Fulani herdsmen since 2010 have likewise not been resettled and endure dehumanizing conditions as the authorities have neglected to set up a proper camp.

In numerous IDP camps across the nation over, essential like schools, clinics, water, food, and sanitation are deficient with regards to by and large or seriously inadequate.

A promise by the NCFRMI to build “resettlement cities” in Borno, Kano, Edo and Katsina has not been satisfied. NGOs allege that the duplication of the obligations by the National Emergency Management Agency, NCFRMI, and the North-East Development Commission engenders debasement and inefficiency.

Providing durable solutions ought to be fundamentally important of the federal and state governments fully backed up by international relief agencies.

Pending their reintegration and resettlement, the government ought to address their immediate requirements and give psycho-social aid to enable them to rebuild their lives. They ought to give crisis covers, clean water, food, and sanitation facilities and other basics such as clothing, blankets, and hygiene kits.

They ought to provide mobile facilities and inoculations to forestall epidemics. Special consideration ought to be paid to the health needs and safety of vulnerable people such as children, women, and the old. A standard IDP camp ought to have a temporary school or learning centre for children.

Effective safety efforts and legal frameworks should be set up to shield them from violence, misuse, and abuse. Vocational or skill centres are expected to assist the camp occupants regain a degree of financial independence.

The UN’s action plan to take at least 10 million individuals out of displacement across the globe, lists Nigeria among the selected pilot 16 countries. As of now, the Labondo Local Integration Pilot project in the Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State is supporting 454 households.

The development of cluster resettlement homes for the Benue IDPs by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is likewise helpful. In October, it gave over 40 completed houses to IDPs in Gusau.

International humanitarian law mandates care for refugees, particularly emerging from armed conflict; Nigeria’s governments ought to key into this strongly.