Officials plan to move Nigeria’s displaced people back home

A Nigerian senator announced Tuesday his plans to start relocating internally displaced persons (IDPs) back to Borno state’s town of Gwoza. The announcement came as the United Nations issued a warning that radicalization could become a feasible option for Nigerians in the terror-hit Northeast if they don’t receive urgent assistance.

Sen. Mohammed Ndume, who represents the Borno South district, said he would begin the process of repatriating displaced people from camps in the states of Lagos, Abuja, and Maiduguri. He said they would initially stay in transit camps in Borno state until they can fix their destroyed homes.

“I am a serious advocate of dismantling the IDP camps, and I am working on that,” Ndume said. “In the history of IDP camps worldwide, once you insist on keeping the camps, then you are creating a permanent den for criminality and laziness.”

Ndume said he spoke with several people in the camps who have agreed to the plan, provided the government supports their relocation. The emergency agency in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and the National Emergency Management Authority already have agreed to help with the movement, Ndume said.

Boko Haram’s insurgency has plagued northeastern Nigeria states, including Borno, as well as neighboring countries in the Lake Chad region. Security forces have seized back territories from the terror group, but its attacks persist. Aid agencies are starting to reach people in need, but the region’s economy urgently needs to be rebuilt, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

“If you miss the opportunity, you perpetuate the need for food assistance, you create dependency,” Dominique Burgeon of the FAO’s emergency and rehabilitation division told Reuters. “If you create frustration, you leave the door open to all sorts of discontent, including radicalization and enrollment into armed groups.”

The UN’s humanitarian aid chief, Stephen O’Brien, warned last month that the lean season has already begun in the Lake Chad region, putting millions of people at risk of hunger and malnutrition. The aid agency said some 9 million people need help across the Lake Chad region. Advocates have called on the Nigerian government and aid groups to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

“If the humanitarian crisis is not addressed soon, it will have serious security and political implications,” the International Crisis Group said in an analysis. “The government must match its military campaign against Boko Haram with strong commitment to addressing the immediate humanitarian needs and longer-term development and reconstruction assistance to rebuild the Northeast.”