The Global IDP Database of the Norwegian
Refugee Council has now updated its country profile on internal displacement
in Nigeria. A summary is presented below. The Database and the country
profile can be accessed at http://www.idpproject.org/,
or the complete profile can be sent to you by e-mail on request (idpsurvey@nrc.ch).
Internal displacement already occurred
in Nigeria 30 years ago, when during the Biafran war (1967-1970) some two
million people died and ten million people became internally displaced.
While displacement of this magnitude has not been repeated since, approximately
500,000 people were forced to flee their homes after ethnic violence rocked
Nigeria in October 2001, the majority of whom returned to their homes by
mid-2002. Available figures suggested that towards July 2002, a total of
at least 30,000 people remained internally displaced in Nigeria. This figure
is mainly composed of a remnant of the June/July 2001 clashes involving
Tivs in Nasarawa and Taraba states, as well as people still displaced after
the October 2001 violence in Benue state involving Tivs and the Jukun/military.
The exact extent of displacement is difficult to estimate, because many
internally displaced seek shelter within social networks and relocate to
other towns and communities to join other family and clan members.
Causes
The roots of conflict and displacement have been existing since long in Nigeria, but military regimes, and especially the authoritarian regime of General Sani Abacha from 1993 to 1998, kept the underlying tensions in check. With the coming into power of Olusegun Obasanjo as president in May 1999 and the introduction of democracy, the Nigerian people were given an opportunity to express their anger and frustration. It is therefore not surprising to see a rise in inter-ethnic and intercommunal conflicts. These can be summarized into five broad categories: ethnic rivalry, religious violence, land-conflicts, conflicts related to the demarcation of administrative boundaries, and conflicts linked to oil-production.
First of all, ethnic rivalries are closely interwoven with the four other categories of causes. Nigeria is host to 250 ethnic groups and an important factor fuelling communal violence was the emergence during the 1990s of militant groups affiliated to specific ethnic groups. In April 2002, President Obasanjo drew up "The Prohibition of Certain Associations Act 2002", in an effort to curb ethnic violence. The Act seeks to ban any "association of individuals or quasi-military groups" formed "for the purpose of furthering the political, religious, ethnic, tribal, cultural or social interests of a group".
Religious clashes are also a cause of displacement. They occur mainly in the North between Muslims and Christians and are related to the introduction of the Islamic legal system, Sharia, in several northern states, but involves an ethnic dimension as well. In May 2002, Sharia law was introduced in a southern state (Oyo) for the first time.
Agricultural policies have favoured large-scale agricultural projects and have forced farmers away from their land. This resulted directly in communal violence, often of an ethnic character, over borderlands and fishing waters. As a result of increasing desertification on Nigeria's northernmost fringes, many pastoral people have started pushing southwards in search of grazing land, accounting to some extent for the conflict between Tivs and the pastoral Hausa-Fulani people in June 2001.
Conflict related to the creation of new administrative boundaries has been another factor of displacement. The new boundaries are often highly contested, especially where it has fuelled tensions between different ethnic groups.
Finally, conflicts related to oil exploration have been a factor behind displacement in the Niger Delta, where the oil exploration has been associated with state violence, communal disputes, environmental pollution and a worsening economic and material situation in the communities.
Specified according to the states which experienced the most displacement in the past year, the following summary of causes and conflicting parties can be given. In Nasarawa State, the conflicting parties are mainly the Tiv and Bassa or Hausa-speaking Azaras, and the roots of conflict are ethnic, economic, or have to do with disputes over land. In Benue State, the Tivs on the one hand and the Jukun or the Idomos on the other have been engaged in fighting, usually centered around ethnic, political or economic issues, or the more broad issue of local tribes (indigenes) versus settlers. In Taraba State, the conflict is mainly between the Tiv and the Jukun ethnic groups, and is of a political or demographic nature and also centers on land and the indigene/settler issue. Finally, in Plateau State, the Hausa-Fulani and other ethnic groups are opposing each other, and is of a polical, economic, or religious nature, and also here the indigene/settler issue plays an important role.
Major incidents of displacement
Some of the major incidents of displacement since June 2001 are listed below:
- June 2001: ethnic fighting between Tivs and Hausa-speaking Azaras in Nasarawa State displaced some 50,000. Fighting spread to Taraba State in July 2001, creating a further 25,000 IDPs . Some 1,800 people remained in Benue State as of July 2002.
- September 2001: religious violence between Hausa-Fulani Muslims and indigenous Christians in Plateau State displaced 60,000, most of whom later returned.
- October 2001: ethnic clashes between the Tiv and Jukun groups and army violence displaced some 300,000 to 500,000 people in Nigeria's central region. Some 15,000 displaced remained in Benue State as of July 2002.
- January 2002: revenge attacks on Christians in Plateau State caused the displacement of some 3,000 people, all of whom returned.
- February 2002: ethnic clashes in Lagos between Yorubas and Hausa-speaking northerners displaced more than 2,000 people, who returned by July 2002.
The pattern of displacement in Nigeria is characterised by unplanned sudden movements of people seeking protection from violence. Often the displaced head for villages where they have family or where their ethnic groups are in the majority. Many IDPs are also sheltered in camps, especially those who do not have family or ethnic relations in the vicinity. Fear for the destruction of property and crops also results in the under-representation of male adults in the IDP camps, who prefer to keep vigil in their villages over their belongings.
Return is often spontaneous and unplanned, but fear for further violence also often impedes the displaced to return to their communities of origin. State governments sometimes assist in the return process. The Nasarawa State Government, for example, has a resettlement strategy which includes transportation to established transit camps and the provision of food, non food items and drugs to the IDPs on their arrival at the transit camps.
Protection and subsistence needs
The physical security of the displaced has in some cases been undermined by government authorities. It has been reported that IDPs have experienced restricted freedom of movement during their flight by roadblocks set up by the police, or because of proximity of military attacks to civilian communities. Moreover, affiliation between officials and certain ethnic groups has sometimes led to reprisal attacks against other ethnicities. Authorities have in some cases used force to make IDPs leave camps and return to their home areas. For example, in July 2001 the police in Nassarawa State used force to make people leave an IDP camp of 3,000.
The extended family system has been crucial in covering the subsistence needs of displaced. However, this resource has been over-stretched. Furthermore, the special needs of women and children are often not taken into full consideration, with men tending to control relief items. Also, food needs are often aggravated because of the destruction of crops.
Response
Humanitarian assistance is mainly provided by national actors, with federal state governments donating money and relief supplies to the affected areas. The Nigerian Red Cross/International Committee of the Red Cross is an important assistance provider. A typical pattern of humanitarian assistance was demonstrated during the Nasarawa crisis in July 2001, where the ICRC/NRCS assisted 7000 IDPs in Benue State with non-food items, while the local and federal government provided food, shelter and health care.
Assistance to the displaced by the UN system is limited to some input from UNICEF. It carried out assessments of IDP camps in Benue State and Lafia during the crisis in Nasarawa and Taraba States in July and August 2001 and implemented assistance activities after the Lagos clashes in February 2002. Some NGOs are also providing aid to Nigeria's internally displaced, like the Catholic Relief Services and Medicins Sans Frontières.
(July 2002)
The country profile includes complete reference to the sources and documents used: http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wCountries/Nigeria