The humanitarian emergency in northeastern Nigeria is far from over for the nearly two million people forced to flee their homes over the past nine years, and more join their ranks daily as violence continues. Caught in a grinding conflict between the Nigerian military and non-state armed groups, scores of people in Borno and Yobe states struggle to find food, water, or shelter and are reliant on humanitarian assistance for survival.
Eighty-year-old widow Maryam Sofo lives in a camp for displaced people in the town of Bama. Two years ago, her family left their hometown of Banki, near the border with Cameroon, after frequent attacks made daily life extremely difficult. Maryam was too sick to move, so her family was forced to make the wrenching decision to leave her behind. After they left, she lived alone, surviving on food distributed by aid organizations, but too weak to collect firewood or cook for herself. In November 2018, she felt strong enough to join her son and his family in Bama, some 40 miles to the northwest. But upon arrival, she found that life in the camp was anything but easy.
“Life here is worrying,” says Maryam. “I arrived 20 days ago, soon after the monthly distribution of food and relief items had taken place in the camp. I haven’t received anything since I arrived here. I have no food, no blanket, no jerry can to collect water, no mat on which to sleep. All I have in this world are the clothes on my back.”
Millions displaced
For Maryam, like the nearly two million others forced from their homes in the region, the only significant change with the advent of the dry season is an increase in violence and insecurity, making them even more vulnerable. On top of losing their homes, many have lost family members and survived violent attacks. Confined to camps, their prospects are extremely limited and they are dependent on aid to survive.
“People have been stranded in camps for years,” says Luis Eguiluz, MSF head of mission in Nigeria. “They have limited freedom of movement outside the camps, which prevents them from providing for themselves, and they have little prospect of returning home because of the continuing conflict.”
Even though people in the camps are entirely dependent on aid, there is often not enough to go around. “Humanitarian assistance is insufficient and does not cover all of their needs in terms of health, water, shelter, and protection,” says Eguiluz. “In Gwoza, we have seen food distributions being reduced; in Pulka, the water supply is inadequate and 4,000 people are in a transit camp waiting to be allotted shelters. It’s the same in Bama, where newly arrived people have at times been sleeping under trees or sharing communal shelters with 70 other people for months on end.”
