Displaced in the Camp
If you ask for my candid opinion, I will describe Nigeria as “Fuji House of Commotion” owing to the back and forth diverse shades of absurdities we’re constantly faced with thereby making negative headlines in the global media and largely shaming the nation. It’s always from one issue to the other: political troubles between political parties or godfatherism tussle, to election malpractice or issues surrounding Electoral Act, or Nigerians having to deal with the Senate which is presumed to have sold its birthright for a pot of porridge, not to mention banditry, kidnapping, farmers-herder clash, fulani herdsmen militia, political high-handedness to corruption at all levels.
The video released by a US Missionary and founder of Building Zion, Alex Barbir, accusing Benue State Government of fabricating charges, detaining him for 48 hours on trumped-up charges to silence his criticism of Aid mismanagement and embezzling Aid funds, following the June 2025 Yelewata massacre, where over 200 people were killed, is embarrassing and annoying. In the five-minute video, Alex Barbir, said his organisation successfully rebuilt approximately 35 homes for families who lost loved ones in the attacks, fulfilling what he describes as his God-given mission to help those who lost families who were massacred in the night.
According to the video, he proposed a cost-effective ₦60 million ($36,000 USD) project to reconstruct the destroyed local market in Yelewata, but officials from the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA) and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs allegedly rejected it. Instead, authorities countered with an inflated ₦300 million ($180,000 USD), estimate for the same work, prompting Barbir to suspect embezzlement. He further accused state agencies of diverting up to ₦4 billion ($2.4 million USD) in funds earmarked for persecuted Christian communities, declaring: “With ₦1 billion, I can build 3,000 homes.”
The popular saying; “there’s no smoke without fire,” comes to bear here. How is it that a foreigner is taking over the responsibility of the government and all concerned officers, can do is feed on the misery of the displaced persons? This is better imagined than experienced, but again, it is our sad truth. There are terrible stories of government officials and politicians, diverting funds, relief materials, and aids meant for Internally Displayed Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria. These people who are in a pitiable plight face worsen challenges in the Camp, which is meant to be a safe haven. They are displaced even right in the camp.
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Nigeria IDPs are characterised by extreme poverty, severe overcrowding in makeshift camps, malnutrition, and limited access to healthcare, clean water, and sanitation. Intervention efforts face serious setbacks in Nigeria. IDPs are highly vulnerable to violence, sexual exploitation, and preventable diseases like cholera and malaria. Recent data, according to the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, reveals that as of March 2025, more than 3.5 million Nigerians are IDPs, with women and children making up over 70%.
I remember the news story by Laraba MUREY in The Abuja Inquirer on “How IDPs relief materials were found in Abuja classrooms.” According to the news story, a huge consignment of relief materials meant for IDPs was discovered in classrooms at the Durumi IDP camp in the Federal Capital Territory. The supplies, comprising food and non-food items, were reportedly stashed away by unidentified government officials, believed to have kept the items for onward diversion to the black market. The Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, NCFRMI, Aliyu Ahmed, stumbled on the consignment, in 2025 while at the camp to inaugurate a computer centre donated by Brand Life Vision Foundation.
Laruba summed up her writeup by saying; “In recent times, intervention efforts in Nigeria have suffered serious set backs, due to mismanagement and diversion of relief supplies by some politicians and government officials Recall that in 2016, Babachir Lawal, the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was probed for alleged diversion of funds and materials meant for IDPs. IDPs have had their dire share of these corrupt practices, as many children in IDP camps across the country are faced with hunger and malnourishment caused by food rationing and diversion of foods by camp officials.” Which way, Nigeria?
The problem of Nigeria is way more than IDP camp. It is not a solution, just a temporary measure. The only way is to identify the root cause of the incessant varying degrees of crisis in Nigeria and tackle it. The government should set up machineries at all levels, proffer solutions to the cause of violence, and banditry, amongst others, and the government should equally act on them.
In 2025, the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Gray Child Foundation and Rotary Action Group For Peace (RAGFP), launched the National Community Violence Reduction Programme (NCVRP), and flag-off of State Grassroot Peace and Security assessment, in Abuja. The NCVRP, is a non-kinetic home-grown intervention, that puts National Peace and Security Frameworks, to action in addressing the casual factors of violence and that the initiative is hot wired to scale and cascade piloted evidence-based, Impactful and sustainable peacebuilding and human security interventions, to reinforce and enhance national peace and security efforts.
The beauty of the NCVRP, is that it has immediate short and long term deliverables and targeted communities in the six geopolitical zones of the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and focuses on vulnerable and at-risk groups, including women, youth, children, persons living with disabilities, the elderly and victims of violence. The core objective of the NCVRP is to reduce community violence and promote peaceful coexistence among various groups and communities in Nigeria, and enhance societal growth and development. This is commendable.
Over the years, Nigeria has continued to contend with a deteriorating peace and security environment that has led to thousands of deaths. Over 4,800 conflict-related deaths were recorded in 2024 alone, according to the Nigeria Security Tracker (CFR, May 2025), with the highest casualties in Borno State, ZamfaraBenue and Kaduna states. The figure has sadly doubled if not tripled.
The programme with it’s implementing strategy, will use a people-centered community-based approach to address the root causes of violence and promote peacebuilding; leveraging the traditional institution, private sector economy and Local Government partnerships to ensure effective implementation and sustainability. IDPs are already vulnerable, and they should not be further displaced or compound their woes right in the unpleasant camps.
