Attachments
KEY FINDINGS: • Most of Guzamala Local Government Area (LGA) in Borno State, Nigeria, has been inaccessible to humanitarian actors since 2014 when the conflict escalated. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Humanitarian Security and Access Working Group previously reported that as many as 993,000 people still live in hard to reach areas, including Guzamala LGA, however there is limited information on their needs, conditions and movement intentions.
• Historic displacement out of Guzamala LGA in 2014 initially showed many households displacing locally to other nearby villages. These households would then later be secondarily displaced to locations outside of Guzamala LGA, such as Gajiram, Monguno, and Maiduguri. People took a variety of routes through Gasarwa, Gubio and Damasak towns en route to their final destinations including Maiduguri, Monguno, Gubio, and Gajiram.
• Current displacement patterns in Guzamala LGA include: (1) Both primary and secondary displacement into current locations in Gajiram, Gasarwa, Ali Gambori, Mariari, Bunari and Monguno; (2) pendular displacement1 between villages of origin and nearby, larger villages within Guzamala LGA where households have displaced to; (3) long-distance pendular displacement, where internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri are travelling back and forth between Maiduguri and their villages of origin; and (4) those IDPs starting to return to their villages of origin in Guzamala LGA. Shorter, more frequent pendular displacement reportedly occurs because people want to check on their villages or gather resources, while in pendular displacement from Maiduguri people travel to check on family and conditions, and for trade purposes.
• Key Informants (KIs) reported a total of 43 villages in which households were completely displaced since December 2017, mostly from wards of Guzamala West, Kingarwa, Mairari and Wamiri. KIs also reported 88 villages with non-displaced households, with knowledge as recent as December 2017, reported in all wards though the majority of reports on villages in Guzamala West and East.
• The majority of KIs from Guzamala LGA reported they would only return to their own village (71%), or another nearby village (7%), within the next three months if told it was safe by the military. FGD participants from Guzamala West and Gudumbali West stated they planned to return to their villages during the next rainy season to farm.
• For households displaced within the last three months, FGD participants reported attacks by Armed Opposition Groups (AOGs) and a number of protection concerns as triggering their displacement, including killing of civilians, forced recruitment of men and boys, kidnapping of children for ransom, forced marriage, sexual assault, physical violence, theft and destruction of goods and property.
• Access to water is reportedly a major challenge in Guzamala LGA. In Kingarwa, Mairari,
Wamiri and Guworam wards, unprotected wells with poor water quality are reportedly peoples’ primary water source, some of which evaporates in the dry season. In Gudumbali East and West, participants reported limited water points and long queues in their villages. Furthermore, these water points are extra burdened due to the hosting of displaced households from other nearby villages.
• Signs of severe iodine deficiency (swollen necks) in women and children were reported by participants from Gudumbali West and Moduri wards.
INTRODUCTION
Guzamala Local Government Area (LGA) in Borno State is located approximately 125 kilometres north of the state capital, Maiduguri. The majority of the LGA has been considered inaccessible to humanitarian actors since intensification of the conflict in 2013, with only some villages accessible along the Maiduguri-Monguno road. The International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM-DTM) reported as many as 994 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) currently residing in Mairari, Ali Gambori and Bunari villages near this road as of February 2018. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs Humanitarian Security and Access Working Group, there are estimated to be as many as 993,000 non-displaced individuals still living within areas hard to reach by international humanitarian actors in Northeast Nigeria, including in Guzamala LGA. Authorities have recently stated that the LGA capital, Gudumbali, is likely to become accessible to humanitarian actors as soon as May 2018.
In an effort to bridge current information gaps, REACH conducted an Area of Knowledge assessment to better understand the conditions, needs and movement intentions of those currently living in and previously displaced from Guzamala LGA. Efforts were made to involve participants from each ward in Guzamala LGA as much as possible. Additionally, with the support of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA), a total of 315 key informants were interviewed comprising of 76 Bulamas, 210 community members, 5 commercial drivers, 17 immunization service providers, 6 civil servants and one market vendor were interviewed and asked to report on their own village, and any other villages they had information on in Guzamala LGA. Key Informants (KIs) reported on the status of 315 villages in total in Guzamala LGA. Of these villages, KIs reported having recent knowledge since December 2017 on 229 villages.