By Rakiya A.Muhammad
The world has seen the catastrophic consequences of banditry attacks; however, very few are aware of the predicaments of displaced persons who are not in formal camps, who slid through the cracks, never counted, and who are now fighting for survival in a world that seems to have forgotten them.
They remain invisible, existing outside the protective institutions and mechanisms that ought to safeguard them, yet trapped in a never-ending cycle of desperation.
When banditry attacks forced them to flee their homes, a group of displaced persons, including three women—a pregnant woman, a nursing mother with three children, and a physically challenged woman with her child—find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive as they navigate treacherous journeys and multiple displacements.
These women, Saadatu Basaja, Zulaiha Lawwal, and Jamila Murtala, from Rudumi village in Zamfara state, come from diverse backgrounds and have unique experiences. Still, they share a common struggle: displacement and vulnerability.
Their narratives embody the more significant issues of systemic failures that force people to live on the streets, in abandoned buildings, or makeshift shelters, battling to survive without access to necessities such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare.
Unending journey through uncertainty
Twenty-eight-year-old physically challenged Saadatu Basaja could not contain her tears as she reminisced about their forced migration, replete with physical and emotional suffering.
She was among the displaced persons who trekked from Zamfara to Sokoto. For these helpless villagers, fleeing their homes meant trading one nightmare for another—a never-ending journey through uncertainty with no haven.
“As you can observe, I am physically impaired and struggle to walk. I attempted to run to save myself and my child, but I was unable to keep pace with others escaping,” she reveals.
“I traversed the forest for two days, sleeping beneath large trees until I eventually relocated to safety.”
The pregnant Jamila Murtala nearly miscarried after tripping and falling multiple times while trying to flee.
“Before we evacuated that fateful Saturday, the gunmen invaded my neighbourhood numerous times, sometimes at daybreak and sometimes at midnight; then they started violating girls and married women,” she recalls.
“When we spot a torch glowing in the darkness, we know it must be theirs; in such case, we stealthily made our way through the underbrush. We spent our nights perched on treetops amidst frightening creatures like snakes.”
She adds that they fled their ancestral homes when bandits invaded the community, massacring many men and abducting numerous women, with the situation escalating rapidly.
“A fortunate few among us managed to escape. With the pregnancy, I ran extensively and fell four times. I was traversing the wilderness without a clear direction.”
For Zulaiha Lawwal, the nursing mother, it was a harrowing decision between survival and sacrifice, compounded by the unpredictability of her safety and her children’s fate.
“When we took to flight, I was carrying three children, including the one I was nursing,” Zulaiha recounts.
“At a point, I became extremely fatigued and could no longer flee with the three children; we searched the jungle for water to drink, but we found none.”
As a result of Zulaiha’s physical and emotional exhaustion, she finally snapped and had to leave one of the children behind to better struggle with the other two. “I departed, leaving him in tears while I was also weeping.”
Regardless of her broken state, the harsh circumstances she and other displaced persons faced persisted.
“We endured three days without food or water and slept in the treacherous forest with dangerous animals,” she relates.
“Due to the lack of water, some nursing mothers drank breast milk to survive.”
“To ensure their survival, some men would urinate and provide their women with it. Unfortunately, one of the men gave his urine to his son to drink, after which the boy died.”
Moments of Respite
However, for Zulaiha, it was a moment of relief when a relative who had come across her son reunited her with him. Still, she harbours some remorse for leaving her child behind in favour of the opportunity to escape with her other child
However, banditry was an ever-present threat, and it was only a matter of time before they assaulted this temporary sanctuary.
“We stayed there for quite some days before bandits raided the village, forcing us to flee.”
New Dilemma
Saadatu, Jamila, Zulaiha, and some other “invisible” IDPs are now living in an uncompleted building in Sokoto State, facing new challenges such as multiple displacements, dismal living conditions, and lack of basic amenities. They also endure stigma and discrimination.
“We have become hopeless and miserable; the bandits have taken everything we owned,” Zulaiha says in her lament.
“We usually send our children out to beg for food, not because we desire it, but because we have no alternatives, and sometimes we sleep hungry.”
She discloses that occasionally, their children fail to return from begging on time, compelling their mothers to venture out at night in search of them.
The three women express a shared concern regarding their children: many children now exhibit a lack of empathy due to their experiences, which include witnessing bandits murder their parents and seeing the kidnapping of relatives. These events contribute to the children’s emotional desensitisation, leading them to frequently inflict harm upon one another without displaying mercy.
From Global to Local
Internal displacements continue to be a global concern. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 75.9 million individuals lived in internal displacement by the end of 2023, including roughly 47 million new internal displacements or movements.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) report also shows that as of the end of 2023, around 3.3 million individuals in Nigeria were experiencing internal displacement due to conflict and violence.
Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), underscores the urgency of the global phenomenon.
The IOM DDG notes: “This report is a stark reminder of the urgent and coordinated need to expand disaster risk reduction, support peace-building, ensure the protection of human rights, and, whenever possible, prevent displacement before it happens.”
The current state of internal displacements leaves a lot to desire, notwithstanding the efforts made by various state governments to support IDPs in camps in Nigeria.
In Sokoto, which had 94,729 IDPs as of December 2023, some IDPs in recognised settings received state-level assistance and aid from non-governmental organisations and individuals.
For instance,the Sokoto government had delivered N1.1 billion worth of foodstuffs, N50 million in monetary support, and 20,000 pieces of clothing materials to IDPs in Goronyo Local Government Area.
“The gesture aims to comfort the displaced individuals and support their well-being while the government works on relocating them back to their homes,” Governor Ahmed Aliyu explains.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), an international donor agency, is one of the organisations assisting the internally displaced people in Sokoto.
The council reiterates the importance of ensuring that all displaced persons lead dignified lives and highlights the necessity for all relevant stakeholders to work together to alleviate and improve the plight of IDPs in the states of Sokoto and Zamfara in northwest Nigeria.
Samson Ayok, DRC Coordinator, says the organisation observed that Northwest Nigeria has suffered a lack of attention amidst the growing number of IDPs as a result of insecurity and other natural occurrences, hence displacing a lot of inhabitants and households.
“We are focusing on Sokoto and Zamfara states to respond rapidly to displacement situations,” he discloses.
“We are building on our approach strategy by encouraging better partnership with other socioeconomic, religious, and cultural organs such as Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the media, opinion, and community leaders to respond adequately to displacement situations in Zamfara and Sokoto states.”
Ayok explains that the initiative seeks to localise strategies and partner with relevant organisations to improve the capacity for effective responses to diverse scenarios. “This will assist in the rapid identification of crises, locations, and affected victims or persons for quick implementation of the designed intervention package.”
However, ASATTAHIR Foundation International, an organisation that helps internally displaced persons in the state, highlights the need for data and information on displacement.
“We supported over 2,000 vulnerable displaced households. You can only do this with comprehensive information and data collection.” Professor Tanko Baba, the Foundation’s Executive Director, emphasises this point.
He reveals that since its establishment in 2011, the foundation has focused on internally displaced persons in health, food, and nutrition initiatives. It offers emergency interventions, particularly at informal centres for IDPs in Zamfara and Sokoto.
“We are working primarily on general system strategy and capacity building to reach out to crisis locations with intervention,” he says.
“The foundation has provided intervention support across the two states. We visited Kauran Namoda, Bodinga, Tangaza, Binji, and Ramin Kura. “All of these are informal IDP centres.”
Still, the situation remains dire for many
But Saadatu, Jamila, Zulaiha, and many other IDPs are still dealing with their situation—no formal help, no recognition, and no home—even as they face another uprooting from their present temporary shelter.
Rights advocate Amina Aliyu believes the situation raises issues about accountability and the role of government and other stakeholders, emphasising the necessity of rectifying systemic deficiencies that hinder internally displaced persons from recovering or progressing.
“When bandits raid their communities, forcing people to flee, the government or local authorities fail to respond effectively, leaving the people vulnerable,” she points out.
“The systems fail the most vulnerable individuals at every stage of the displaced persons’ journey, scarcely recognising their presence.”
She harps on a deliberate mechanism to redress the situation. “It is imperative that relevant authorities tackle the underlying causes of such displacements and adopt a more comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of displaced persons, regardless of whether they are in formal or informal settings.”
