In recent times, there have been alleged cases of rape, theft, and child marriage in many Internally Displaced Persons camps in Northern Nigeria.
These anomalies Arewa PUNCH investigations reveal are due to the unending insecurity, including kidnapping and banditry that have bedevilled many communities and cities across the 19 northern states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Some of these states where rape and child marriage have occurred include: Borno, Benue, Niger, Kano, Bauchi, Adamawa, and Kebbi, among others.
The horrible and dehumanising condition in the form of sexual abuse, forced marriage, hunger and poverty have remained a daunting challenge for the IDPs who constantly pray to quickly return to their ancestral homes, but the fight against insecurity is yet to come to an end as terrorists still unleash mayhem on citizens.
During a recent visit by the Sexual Offences Awareness and Responses initiative, a Non-governmental Organisation to some IDP camps in Benue State, the Project Officer, Chibuzor Njoku, lamented the increase in molestation of young girls in the camps, and called on the federal and state governments to urgently intervene in the matter.
The NGO raised the alarm while carrying out interventions in IDP camps in three Benue LGAs, including Anyiin in Logo LGA, Gbajimba; Uikpam in Guma LGA and Naka, in Gwer West LGA.
Arewa PUNCH investigations further reveal that the constant molestation of young, impressionable and vulnerable girls at the IDP camps, informed the decision of the NGO to the set up a Camp Child Protection Committee at the various camps to serve as a shield to the young females.
Speaking on the principles of child rights in the society, Njoku reminded that the rights of children included the right to be protected by their parents and the society, the right to be cared for, the right to protection from child trafficking, the right to be protected from domestic violence, among others.
Therefore, he called for collective efforts from parents and guardians on the need to always protect the rights of children.
Only last week, Arewa PUNCH reported the shocking discovery of underage marriages that flourish in the Adamawa IDPs camps amidst ravaging hunger, crippling poor healthcare facitilities.
The underage marriages, otherwise known as child marriage, still boom at the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in Adamawa, for instance, where at least, five child marriages were recorded in one of the IDPs camps this year alone.
Most worrisome about the situation is that in spite of the hard times being faced by the vulnerable persons squatting at the different camps following the 14 years of Boko Haram insurgency which forced many families to flee their homes, indiscriminate contraction of marriages by underage couples and tales of found love still flourish.
Arewa PUNCH had an exclusive interview with two families out of the five in the IDPs camps who got married this year alone – Bakura, 17 years old, who is originally from Michika, and got married to Aisha,15 years old in January 2023.
Similarly, 21 years old Babagana, who is in SS 2 and migrated to Adamawa from Bama, told Arewa PUNCH that he got married in July 2023 at the camp and gave his wife’s name as Hafsat.
“She is 17 years old. I love Hapsat very well. She is very, very sweet,” he spoke lovingly of his spouse.
Meanwhile, in recent disputes between herders and farmers in Obi and Awe LGAs of Nasarawa State which led to the displacement of over 4,000 residents, women and young females encountered numerous challenges due to the alleged neglect of the state government.
The communities affected were: Chabo, Daar, Tse-Udugh, Kyor-Chiha, Ayaakeke, Usula, Hagher, Joor, Tyungu, Ugba, Angwan, and Ayaba – all are in the two LGAs.
When Arewa PUNCH visited the IDP camps at the Central Primary School in Awe LGA, some of the women and girls were seen sitting helplessly while others were begging motorists and commuters plying the road for money to feed.
Spokesperson for the IDPs, Joseph Amuwa, informed that due to the absence of security personnel around the camp, some of the IDPs lost their lives following consistent attacks by hoodlums who invade the camps mostly at midnights.
He narrated how some of the women at the camps were molested, abducted, and raped.
This situation, he noted, is not peculiar to the IDPs camp in Awe alone but cuts across camps in other states.
Amuwa also told of the pathetic story of how two of the nursing mothers at the camp, Mercy Chahur and Adasho Deborah watched helplessly when their children fell sick and died one after the another due to lack of medical facilities in the area.
Therefore, he appealed to the federal and state governments, alongside non- governmental organisations and other charity-inclined Nigerians, to come to the aid of the people, especially the very vulnerable ones among them.
The IDPs spokesman also urged them to make efforts towards proffering a permanent solution to the challenges that IDPs were facing in the state and the country at large.
“It is even more pathetic to watch many of these expectant women give birth to their babies on bare floor in the classrooms and you can imagine the situation that the nursing mothers face with their new born babies. The government at all levels should not ignore our plights. The IDPs need all the help they can get to survive the hardship they are facing at the various camps,” Amuwa solicited.
As a result of the consistent attacks in most Northern states in the country, the estimated number of Internally Displaced Persons in Nasarawa, Benue, Niger and Plateau states in 2023 alone has risen to over 500,000, based on figures collated from various local and international organisations.
Although the security situation in Nigeria has improved in parts of the country with the scale of attacks trending down, thousands of Nigerians are still being displaced from their communities by criminal gangs, bandits, and other terrorists.
In 2022, the International Organisation for Migration said over 3.6 million people were displaced in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe. But the trend is yet to be over as bandits are still hovering around many parts of the country and regrettably succeeding in their criminal act.
As of July 14, 2023, there were an estimated 18,751 internally displaced persons in Plateau State alone. This is based on a report by the Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation. The report also indicated that the IDPs were from eight local government areas of the state.
Meanwhile, speaking on what the federal government is doing to ameliorate the plights of IDPs in country, the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Ezekiel Manzo, told Arewa PUNCH that the government has commenced an emergency intervention programme in some of the affected states.
He explained that the initiative would be expanded and implemented in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“The interventions are many. For instance, NEMA has commenced the distribution of relief items under a Special National Economic Livelihood Emergency Intervention approved by the Federal Government for the citizens.
“The distribution has commenced in Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe states, and it will cover the 36 states and the FCT for beneficiaries in communities affected across the country,” Manzo disclosed.
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Similarly, the NEMA Coordinator in Adamawa State, Mr Ladan Ayuba decried the booming underage marriages in the IDP camp, saying, “Even though I see them with lots of children, I most times don’t like to talk about marriages in general because people are supposed to be free to make their choices, and the marriages are contracted between them with their parents’ consent, so, it is their right from the age of 18 and above.
“Unfortunately, going by the ages of these latest couples, it means they are going to be relying on their parents and the government, as well, which is not good and should not be encouraged.
“I will meet with the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency alongside the development partners to brainstorm on the matter. We will meet with the leaders of the camps to sensitise them on the need to stop such from happening. It is not just about the love they claim to have for each other. They should wait until they are of marriageable age to do so. That way, the husbands would have something tangible to do as well to support their families and not rely on the help they get from time to time.
“This issue calls for serious concern, and I thank Arewa PUNCH for bringing this to our notice. We would ensure they all have a better life even though they are living in the camp,” Ayuba replied to an SMS forwarded to his phone.
Furthermore, our correpondent spoke through an interpreter in Hausa language to the Chairman at the Fufore camp, Abba Umar, on whether or not he is aware of the five marriages already contracted at the camps, but he immediately corrected that the total number of marriages recorded were six.
However, he pointed out that much as marriage is a good thing, he is not happy about the underage marriages. Umar said he would try his best to stop such from happening at the camps, especially the Fufore camp going forward.