Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram still face terrorism menace in IDP camps

Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram still face terrorism menace in IDP camps 

 What is next for the people who lost their families, loved ones and homes at the hands of terrorism? Is their stay in camps for internally displaced persons safe?  

Editor note: Obule Ocheyenor, the Naij.com author, says everything possible should be done to ensure they do not suffer the same fate twice. The massacre of at least 58 internally displaced persons (IDPs) by two female suicide bombers in their camp in Dikwa, Borno state, on Tuesday, 9 February, fully brought home the high level of vulnerability of the IDPs. Most of the IDPs are children orphaned by the insurgency in the North-East and widows who also lost their husbands to the Boko Haram insurgency.

It amounts to double tragedy for these hapless Nigerians rendered homeless by terrorists to be attacked by suicide bombers in their camps which ought to be a safer haven compared to their war-torn communities in the North-East. The attack in Dikwa community, which is about 90 kilometres from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, was believed to be a reprisal after the military raided Boko Haram strongholds in the area. The attack could have been prevented if there was pro-active measure in place to safeguard the IDPs. Bomb detectors should be provided for security personnel to screen visitors or suspicious persons at the camps. For a camp that houses some 53,600 IDPs, no effort ought to be spared in giving the camp dwellers adequate protection. The attack raised security fears after the third suicide bomber, who refused to detonate her own bomb, said more of such attacks were being planned by the terrorists. She adduced her reason for not blowing herself up along with the IDPs to the fact that her parents and siblings were in the camp. If this bomber who disguised as IDP had not surrendered herself to military authorities, it would have been a different story altogether as the casualties in the camp would have been higher on that fateful Tuesday. The camp dwellers have suffered too much to be subjected to the kind of gruesome death witnessed in Dikwa. How unlucky could those who died or suffered severe injuries be? They fled from terror and ended up in the jaws of terror in the most unlikely place, a supposed safe haven. If not that suicide bombers were prevented from getting into the IDP camp in Dalori near Maiduguri, they would have wreaked a greater havoc in the camp which is said to be the largest around Maiduguri, the initial hotbed of the Boko Haram insurgency. It was in the same Dalori town that at least 85 people were killed on 31st January, 2015. During that attack, Boko Haram terrorists did not only kill members of the communities, they also set their houses ablaze. But as troops continue to degrade the capabilities of Boko Haram and reclaim the territories they hitherto occupied, there is urgent need for the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel to firmly hold these grounds recaptured from the terrorists so that IDPs could return to their communities after rehabilitation of their destroyed homes and infrastructure had been completed. In the aftermath of the Dikwa massacre, IDPs in various camps should not be in a hurry to return home as their safety must be fully guaranteed before they could do so. The IDPs could still be soft targets for Boko Haram if normalcy is not fully restored in their war ravaged communities. It won’t be an easy task to rehabilitate the at least 2.6 million IDPs scattered in various camps across the country. The powerful North-East Rehabilitation Committee, set up by President Muhammadu Buhari and headed by Theophilus Danjuma, has inspired confidence in Nigerians that the IDPs won’t be abandoned to their fate. With billionaire industrialist, Aliko Dangote, also a member of the committee, there is hope that it won’t be long before infrastructure is provided in the destroyed communities and the IDPs resettled in their original homes. But before that is done, IDPs must be adequately protected from further attacks by the Boko Haram terrorists. Apart from providing security for the IDPs, the dehumanizing conditions in which some of them live in the camps should be addressed urgently. Most of the camps do not have conveniences and lack basic necessities such as potable water. They even find it difficult to feed. They occasionally get succour from churches and non-governmental organisations that give them food and clothing. Their plight could be ameliorated if these basic needs are met. It is the absence of these needs that has made some of the IDPs want to return to their devastated communities even before those communities are rehabilitated. Another harbinger of death is Lassa fever. Following its outbreak across the country, there is need to make the camps more habitable and clean to prevent the spread of the disease among the IDPs. Enlightening the camp dwellers on the essence of keeping their surroundings clean and to kill rats and other rodents around them is a sure way to carry them along in the efforts to keep the disease and death at bay.