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INTRODUCTION
The town of Monguno, in the Monguno Local Government Area (LGA) in northeastern Borno State, has long been a hub for IDPs, estimated by the International Organisation for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM DTM) to house 124,000 IDPs as of February 2018.2 Since the start of 2018, Monguno has seen an upsurge in arrivals, with the IOM DTM reporting that 3,646 IDPs had arrived since 27 December 20173 from Nganzai LGA and surrounding villages in Monguno, further contributing to the already high humanitarian needs in the town. Many areas around Monguno, particularly Marte LGA and the islands in Lake Chad, are considered inaccessible to the humanitarian community due to conflict between the Nigerian government and Armed Opposition Groups (AOGs), and only limited information is available on the populations living in these areas. As a result, humanitarian actors have faced challenges in anticipating and preparing for new IDP arrivals.
KEY FINDINGS:
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Nigerian Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from villages on islands in Lake Chad, in eastern Monguno and Marte Local Government Areas (LGAs) have been arriving in the town of Monguno since the start of 2018, following recent clashes between the Nigerian government and Armed Opposition Groups (AOGs). Focus Group Discussion (FGD) participants reported that AOGs had prevented them from leaving their villages of origin for the past two to four years, but that recent clashes provided an opportunity for some households to escape.
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Displacement out of Marte LGA started as early as 2012 from Marte ward, with the majority occuring between July 2014 and December 2015 from other wards1. Many households from Kulli and Muwalli wards reported leaving later between July 2016 and September 2017. FGD participants who have been displaced in January 2018 report originating from the Lake Chad areas of northern Marte and eastern Monguno.
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According to participants, IDPs travelled to the western shore of Lake Chad via canoe, before travelling onwards to Monguno on foot. The journey from participants’ villages of origin to Monguno was generally reported to take one to two days if not stopping anywhere along the way. No participants reported receiving assistance en route, and some reported deaths due to thirst or exhaustion during the journey.
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FGD participants reported that they faced severe protection issues in their villages of origin, including restrictions on freedom of movement, threats of physical violence and killings, and seizure of agricultural produce.
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On villages where informants had information, most were reported as empty. Only a handful of villages were reported to still have some non-displaced households in the wards (a subdivision of LGAs) of Baga, Kekeno, Yoyo, Mintar, Musune and Borsori, with information as recent as November 2017. Though the current status of these non-displaced households may have changed since.
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FGD participants from the Lake Chad area most commonly reported food, livelihoods, shelter, clothing, and health services as their priority needs in Monguno, and stated they would need the most support with farming equipment, shelter, and education upon return to their villages of origin. Key informants, from varying locations in Marte LGA, reported food assistance as their top need on return to their village, followed by water, access to income, and to a lesser extent health, education and psychosocial services.