4 Refugees and displaced persons
The unstable security situation in Nigeria and surrounding countries has led to persistent flows of refugees and displaced persons in and around Nigeria. In February 2021, the UN recorded more than 2.9 million displaced persons in
Nigeria917 and more than 300,000 Nigerian refugees in the neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.918 During the reporting period, the number of political refugees from Cameroon residing in Nigeria also rose to 60,000.919 In total, there were more than 66,000 refugees in Nigeria in February 2021.920 However, some in these groups also returned to their place of residence or country of origin.921 The following paragraphs examine in more detail developments with regard to and the situation of displaced persons and refugees in Nigeria.
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approximately 1.9 million displaced persons in Nigeria were in North-East Nigeria (Adamawa, Yobe and Borno),929 the highest number (1.5 million individuals) being in Borno state. 930 Of the 248,000 displacements recorded by the IDMC in 2019, some 105,000 occurred in North-East Nigeria.931 Many of these displaced persons had been displaced since 2014/2015.932 In addition, some 40% of those currently displaced in this region have been displaced several times.933 Most of the displaced in Borno were located around the capital, Maiduguri. There were 32 official
government-run IDP camps in this state, 16 of which were located around
Maiduguri. The remaining 16 were spread across other parts ofBorno. These official IDP camps do not have sufficient capacity to receive everyone. At the end of 2019, there were also about 200 informal camps in Borno where NGOs were trying to provide humanitarian support to displaced persons.934 The majority (54%) of the displaced in Borno live outside camps, with family, friends, or in host
communities.935
Living conditions of displaced persons in North-East Nigeria
Conditions in both official (government-run) IDP camps and informal IDP camps in Borno are concerning, according to several sources.936 In September 2020, research found that 51 camps in Borno lacked adequate living space for the people there.937 In October 2019, more than 400,000 displaced persons lacked adequate shelter.
Thirty-four thousand of these were living in the open air.938 Malnutrition was common and there was a lack of clean drinking and sanitary water in many camps.939 In addition, several sources indicated that malaria was common during the rainy seasons and that there were also outbreaks of cholera and measles during the reporting period.940 During this period, the situation in the camps in Borno was aggravated by natural disasters such as floods.941 There was a lack of basic services such as education and health care in both the official and informal camps.942 By way of illustration, IDMC stated in 2019 that there was one school with 12 classrooms in the official Teachers Village IDP camp in Maiduguri. Teachers Village was
accommodating 22,000 individuals at the time.943
Compared with the North-West or North-Central zone of Nigeria, North-East Nigeria has a relatively high number of humanitarian groups to provide assistance to displaced persons and other vulnerable groups. Nonetheless, UNHCR data showed that during the first half of 2020, less than a fifth of the 5.4 million people in need in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe were being reached.944 It is estimated that 800,000 people in this region are inaccessible to humanitarian organisations due to insecurity caused by Boko Haram.945
Violations of the human rights of displaced persons in North-East Nigeria
929 UNHCR, North East Nigeria – Protection Monitoring Report July-August 2020.
930 IDMC, Country Information: Nigeria, last accessed 30 November 2020.
931 IDMC, Country Information: Nigeria, last accessed 30 November 2020.
932 IDMC, Country Information: Nigeria, last accessed 30 November 2020.
933 IOM, DTM Nigeria Round 26, January 2019.
934 IDMC, North-east Nigeria: A massive internal displacement crisis, December 2019.
935 UNHCR, North East Nigeria – Protection Monitoring Report July-August 2020.
936 AD, 'Gebrek aan aandacht voor Nigeria is schokkend', 2 December 2019; Norwegian Refugee Council, Boko Haram conflict causing misery to millions 10 years on, 23 July 2019; IDMC, “ONCE THE ROAD IS SAFE”:
Displacement and return in north-eastern Nigeria, August 2019.
937 Health Sector Nigeria, COVID-19 Situation Update: North East Nigeria, 13 September 2020.
938 IDMC, GRID 2020: Global Report on Internal Displacement, p. 18, April 2020.
939 MSF, Borno state: In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, malaria, malnutrition and water-borne diseases will not relent., 3 April 2020.
940 Norwegian Refugee Council, Boko Haram conflict causing misery to millions 10 years on, 23 July 2019; MSF, “I have not seen such high numbers of measles cases”, 17 May 2019; OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview Nigeria: Humanitarian Programme Cycle 2020, p. 19, December 2019.
941 IDMC, GRID 2020: Global Report on Internal Displacement, p. 18, April 2020.
942 Norwegian Refugee Council, Boko Haram conflict causing misery to millions 10 years on, 23 July 2019.
943 IDMC, North-east Nigeria: A massive internal displacement crisis, December 2019.
944 UNHCR, Protection Monthly Update: January-June 2020, undated.
945 ACAPS, Nigeria: Boko Haram, accessed 30 November 2020.
During the reporting period, displaced persons were reported to be victims of human rights violations and other forms of violence. Various sources indicated that in IDP camps in Borno, women in particular were subjected to sexual violence, including rape and sexual exploitation.946 Underage displaced girls were at increased risk of being married off by family members or recruited by human traffickers.947 According to research by the UN, many of these girls ended up in situations of sexual
exploitation.948 The research found that most of the victims ended up in Nigeria itself or neighbouring countries. Two camps (Farm Centre and Madinatu) were used as starting points for human trafficking towards North Africa and the Gulf region.949 Inhabitants of IDP camps, especially children, were generally at high risk of becoming victims of exploitation or forced labour in, for example, construction, agriculture and other sectors.950
Little sign of permanent return for displaced persons in North-East Nigeria
An analysis of IOM data by the IDMC shows that in 2019, 641,000 displaced persons returned to their own communities in Borno state, 783,000 in Adamawa and
133,000 in Yobe. However, 225,000 of these individuals returned to a situation of severe instability and insecurity. The UNHCR estimates that the homes of 97% of Nigerian IDPs returning to North-East Nigeria between January and March 2019 had been destroyed.951 In 2019, IOM concluded that 63% of IDPs who had returned to Borno were living in temporary, makeshift shelters.952 Many of those returning from Maiduguri failed to return to their own villages as it was still too dangerous. Instead, they were staying in the nearest urban centres.953 In October 2020, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs (NCFRMI) announced that it would monitor the status of 350,000 displaced people in Borno in preparation for the return of this group.954 Experts have questioned the feasibility of this objective, given the unstable security situation in North-East Nigeria.955 During the reporting period, displaced persons who returned (forcibly or voluntarily) were victims of attacks and kidnappings by Boko Haram.956
4.1.2 The situation of displaced persons in the Middle Belt
Less information is available on the situation of displaced people in the Middle Belt region than in the North-East.957 This is partly due to the limited presence of
international humanitarian organisations in the region. Nevertheless, several sources confirm that there were significant waves of displacement during the reporting period. Violence in the North-West and North-Central zones of Nigeria led to 88,000 displacements in 2019, according to the IDMC.958 Violence between herders and
946 UNHCR, UNHCR Nigeria: SGBV 2019 Annual Report, 20 May 2020.
947 UNHCR, Assessment of Trafficking Risks in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in North-East Nigeria, April 2020;
Confidential source, 26 October 2020.
948 UNHCR, Assessment of Trafficking Risks in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in North-East Nigeria, p. 11, April 2020.
949 UNHCR, Assessment of Trafficking Risks in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in North-East Nigeria, p. 14, April 2020.
950 UNHCR, Assessment of Trafficking Risks in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in North-East Nigeria, p. 9, April 2020.
951 UNHCR, Nigeria: Refugee Returnees, Situation Dashboard, 2019.
952 IOM, DTM Nigeria: Round 26, January 2019.
953 IOM, DTM Nigeria: Round 26, p. 22, January 2019; IDMC, “ONCE THE ROAD IS SAFE”: Displacement and return in north-eastern Nigeria, August 2019.
954 FCT Alert News Magazine, Govt Begins Verification of 350,000 IDPs for Empowerment, October 2020; Premium Times, Boko Haram: Borno moves to return IDPs to ‘liberated’ communities, 6 October 2020.
955 ACAPS, Humanitarian Perspectives: Highlights from 2019 - Risks in 2020, p. 9, December 2019; Reuters, Islamic State fills the void in Nigeria as soldiers retreat to 'super camps', 16 September 2019; Security Praxis, Nigeria's Super-Camps Strategy: early gains, disappointing outcomes, 26 June 2020; AD, 'Gebrek aan aandacht voor Nigeria is schokkend', 2 December 2019; Carnegie Endowment, Stabilizing Northeast Nigeria After Boko Haram, 3 May 2019.
956 Garda World, Nigeria: Suspected militants abduct hundreds of residents in Kukawa (Borno State) August 18, 19 August 2020; Premium Times, Why we’re relocating IDPs to Baga despite attacks – Borno Attorney-General, 14 October 2020
957 IDMC, Internal Displacement 2020: Mid-Year Update, pagina 14, undated.
958 IDMC did not provide any separate information about displacement in the Middle Belt region.
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farmers led to another 55,000 displacements in the North-Central zone. This appears to represent a decrease from the number of displacements that took place in the first half of 2018, when, according to estimates, between 300,000 and 500,000 residents of the Middle Belt region fled.959 The following paragraphs will examine the situation in the Middle Belt in more detail and the next section will discuss the situation in the North-West.
Information about the numbers, profiles and locations of displaced persons in the Middle Belt
Sources indicate that Benue and Plateau have been most severely affected by displacement as a result of the conflict between different population groups in the Middle Belt region.960 According to IOM data, there were approximately 160,000 displaced persons in Benue, 96,000 in Plateau and 20,000 in Nasarawa in October 2019.961 In September 2020, MSF stated that the number of displaced persons in the official and informal camps where MSF operates had doubled during the first half of 2020.962 However, a confidential source indicated that the total number of
displaced persons in the Middle Belt region has fallen since 2018.963 The profiles of the displaced in the North-Central region vary by state. According to a confidential source, those in Benue are mainly Tiv farmers. Nasarawa took in large numbers of displaced Fulani, who had been driven to the neighbouring state partly because of the enforcement of the anti-open grazing law in Benue (for more information on this legislation, see 1.2.3). In Plateau, there was a lot of internal displacement of both farmers and Fulani during the reporting period: Berom farmers from the Barakin Ladi and Riyom LGAs were driven by Fulani to other parts of Plateau, as were Irigwe farmers from the Bassa and Bokkos LGAs. These displaced people took over some areas where the Fulani had settled. Fulani, in turn, seized some of the indigenous Berom villages in Plateau.964 Displaced persons can often settle elsewhere within the same state or in a neighbouring state. A confidential source indicated that because land ownership plays a vital role in the conflict between herders and farmers, displaced persons who are unable and/or unwilling to go to one of the official
government-run displacement camps can only settle on land of individuals belonging to the same ethnic group.965
Displacement is sometimes protracted in the Middle Belt region. Some of the displaced return to their own communities, but there are also cases where they become integrated in host communities.966 Cases of long-term displacement are found, for example, among the Fulani from Plateau. Large-scale displacements took place among this group, in particular from the Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos South, Irigwe and Bassa LGAs, following violence in 2001 and 2010. These Fulani fled to the states of Bauchi and Kaduna and are still there. Reports in the media and in publications of aid organisations also indicate that many displaced Tiv and other farmers in Benue state have been displaced since 2015, with little prospect of returning.967
Living conditions of displaced persons in the Middle Belt: food insecurity and absence of international humanitarian organisations
959 International Crisis Group, Stopping Nigeria’s Spiralling Farmer-Herder Violence, p. 12, 26 July 2018; Premium Times, Surviving after Attacks: Sad tales of displaced Benue women, 4 October 2020.
960 Confidential source, 29 October 2020; MSF, “When I think about going home, I remind myself that a live dog is better than a dead lion”, 1 September 2020.
961 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019.
962 MSF, “When I think about going home, I remind myself that a live dog is better than a dead lion”, 1 September 2020.
963 Confidential source, 29 October 2020.
964 Confidential source, 24 September 2020.
965 Confidential source, 29 October 2020.
966 Premium Times, Surviving after Attacks: Sad tales of displaced Benue women, 4 October 2020.
967 MSF, “When I think about going home, I remind myself that a live dog is better than a dead lion”, 1 September 2020; Premium Times, Surviving after Attacks: Sad tales of displaced Benue women, 4 October 2020;
Confidential source, 24 September 2020.
As in the North-East of the country, in the Middle Belt of Nigeria there are both official IDP camps and informal camps/settlements within host communities in other villages or in cities. IOM research indicates that 75% of the displaced in the Middle Belt and North-West zone were living in informal camps/settlements. Living conditions in both the official and informal camps were of concern during the reporting period. According to MSF, there was poor hygiene and a lack of shelter, food, health care and education in most of the camps.968
IOM concluded in October 2019 that in Plateau and Nasarawa there were urgent food shortages in 30% and 16% of IDP camps respectively.969 In Benue this was the case in 55% of the official and informal camps investigated by IOM.970 This is related to the fact that most of the displaced in Benue are farmers. Many of them were returning to their land to look after their crops during the day and then staying in the IDP camps at night for safety reasons. However, MSF indicated that since 2019 it has become too dangerous to tend crops during the day,971 which means that it has become harder for displaced people to provide for their own food. Because many international humanitarian organisations left the Middle Belt in 2019, support from them was also inadequate.
Sexual violence against displaced women
According to a report in the Premium Times, displaced women have been sexually assaulted by guards and other staff in IDP camps in Benue.972 In addition, many displaced women are struggling with the economic consequences of the loss of their husbands, who in most cases were the breadwinners of the family.973 This also led to the sexual exploitation of displaced women in Benue during the reporting period, in exchange for food and other basic necessities.974
Criticism of the role of the authorities in managing the IDP crisis in the Middle Belt There was criticism during the reporting period of the Nigerian federal government’s lack of financial support for displaced persons in Benue.975 There was also criticism of the activities of Benue’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), which is responsible for running IDP camps and distributing food. For example, there were allegations that SEMA distributed spoilt food to displaced persons and that it withheld food that had been made available to it to distribute to vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 crisis.976 SEMA denied both allegations.977
4.1.3 Situation of displaced persons in North-West Nigeria
In North-West Nigeria, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna have been worst affected by displacement. In October 2019, there were around 260,000 displaced persons in North-West Nigeria, according to IOM: 65,000 in Zamfara, 69,000 in Katsina, 62,000 in Kaduna, 44,000 in Sokoto and 21,000 in Kano.978 In addition, there were 41,000 refugees from this region in neighbouring Niger at the time.979 During the second half of the reporting period, the number of displaced persons in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto did not significantly decrease. In May 2020, there were
968 MSF, “When I think about going home, I remind myself that a live dog is better than a dead lion”, 1 September 2020.
969 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, p. 10, October 2019.
970 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, p. 10, October 2019.
971 MSF, “When I think about going home, I remind myself that a live dog is better than a dead lion”, 1 September 2020.
972 Premium Times, Surviving after Attacks: Sad tales of displaced Benue women, 4 October 2020
973 Confidential source, 29 October 2020.
974 Premium Times, Surviving after Attacks: Sad tales of displaced Benue women, 4 October 2020.
975 This Day, FG Abandons Benue IDPs, Excludes State from N10bn Disaster Fund, 8 March 2020.
976 Vanguard, Benue not hoarding CACOVID palliatives ― SEMA, 26 October 2020; The Punch, Benue didn’t give IDPs spoilt beans — SEMA, 29 April 2020
977 Vanguard, Benue not hoarding CACOVID palliatives ― SEMA, 26 October 2020; The Punch, Benue didn’t give IDPs spoilt beans — SEMA, 29 April 2020
978 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019.
979 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, p. 4, October 2019.
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46,000 displaced persons in Sokoto, 69,000 in Zamfara and 61,000 in Katsina according to UNHCR.980 There were about 60,000 refugees from these regions in Niger at the time.981
According to data from 2019, armed crime and kidnappings by bandits were the main cause of displacement in Zamfara and Sokoto, whereas in Kaduna violence between different (ethnic) communities was the main cause.982 In Katsina, inter-ethnic violence and natural disasters lay behind most of the displacements.983 In August 2020, floods led to the displacement of 15,000 individuals in North-West Nigeria. 984
Despite the high numbers of displaced people, there were relatively few official IDP camps in North-West Nigeria.985 Displaced people have spread to almost all LGAs in this region.986 However, there were concentrations in certain LGAs. In Zamfara state, most of the displaced lived in informal camps in the LGAs Anka, Maradun and Tsafe. The camps have been set up in an unfinished palace, abandoned government buildings and primary schools, and they provide shelter to both Hausa and Fulani IDPs.987 In the state of Katsina, many displaced people were staying in an informal camp at a primary school in the Batsari LGA.988 In Kaduna, many displaced
Christians were staying in the Mercy IDP camp in Zonkwa in the Zangon Kataf LGA.
Displaced Muslims from Hausa and Fulani communities were mainly living in the Mariri camp in the Lere LGA and in the Ladduga camp in the Kachia LGA, according to the Nigerian Daily Trust 989newspaper.
Living conditions of displaced persons in North-West Nigeria: serious food insecurity The situation for displaced persons in North-West Nigeria was very bad during the reporting period.990 The main problem was food insecurity.991 In 2019, displaced persons in North-West Nigeria reported severe food shortages to IOM and
UNHCR.992 IOM data show that, in particular, displaced persons living outside camps – most of the displaced in North-West Nigeria – had poor access to adequate food.993 In September 2019, the World Food Programme (WFP) stated that 70% of IDPs in Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto did not have access to sufficient food.994 In Zamfara and Sokoto in particular, many children suffered from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). This was not confined to displaced children. The same WPF report stated that SAM was found in 18% of displaced children in Sokoto and 31% of displaced children in Zamfara.995 This lack of food was partly due to the fact that most of the displaced in this region are farmers who, because of the violence and displacement, were no longer able to look after and harvest their crops. As well as food insecurity, both IOM and UNHCR identified many other problems in IDP camps
980 UNHCR, Protection Monitoring Dashboard Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara, May 2020.
981 UNHCR, Protection Monitoring Dashboard Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara, May 2020.
982 Oyenike, ‘Internal Displacement in North West & North Central Nigeria’, Towards Data Science, 6 January 2020.
983 Oyenike, ‘Internal Displacement in North West & North Central Nigeria’, Towards Data Science, 6 January 2020.
984 FloodList, Nigeria – 4 Dead, 15,000 Displaced After Floods in North, 11 August 2020.
985 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019.
986 Oyenike, ‘Internal Displacement in North West & North Central Nigeria’, Towards Data Science, 6 January 2020.
987 Sahara Reporters, Blood Thirsty Demons Of Zamfara (III): Displaced And Abandoned, The Story Of 30,000 Zamfarans, 10 April 2019.
988 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019.
989 Daily Trust, In Southern Kaduna IDP Camps, Atyab, Fulani, Hausa Shed Tears, 22 August 2020.
990 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019; Daily Trust, In Southern Kaduna IDP Camps, Atyab, Fulani, Hausa Shed Tears, 22 August 2020; UNHCR & NCRMFI, Joint Protection Assessment Mission to Northwest Nigeria: 25 July – 4 August 2019, undated.
991 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019; UNHCR & NCRMFI, Joint Protection Assessment Mission to Northwest Nigeria: 25 July – 4 August 2019, 9 September 2019.
992 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019; UNHCR & NCRMFI, Joint Protection Assessment Mission to Northwest Nigeria: 25 July – 4 August 2019, 9 September 2019.
993 IOM, DTM Nigeria: North Central and North West Zones Round 2, October 2019
994 WFP, Rapid Food Security and Nutrition Assessment among Internally Displaced Households in Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States of Nigeria, September 2019.
995 WFP, Rapid Food Security and Nutrition Assessment among Internally Displaced Households in Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States of Nigeria, September 2019.