North-East Nigeria Operational Update, January 2022

UNHCR provided technical support for drafting the Child Rights Act and made important contributions to the milestone document enacted into law by the Borno State Government on 10 January 2022.

Camp closure in Borno: With the Stadium IDP camp, hosting some 17,300 individuals, six camps are now closed. Closing the remaining five camps is going to affect an estimated 60,000 IDP women, men and children.

Through its monitoring of spontaneous refugee returnees from Chad, Cameroon, and Niger,
UNHCR and the National Immigration Service registered some 4,100 individuals in some local councils in Borno State.

Operational Highlights

• Non-state armed groups (NSAGs) continued to attack security forces and civilians in NorthEast Nigeria. Many people continued to be displaced into Chad and North-East Nigeria following skirmishes between Arab Shoa and Musgum ethnic groups in the Far North Region of Cameroon.

• In Borno State, violence, including armed attacks, use of Person-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (PBIED)/IED, abductions, illegal vehicle checkpoints, crimes, were reported, as NSAG members continued to surrender to government forces. A gradual improvement in the security situation of the State was seen, especially on the main supply routes. Consequently, United Nations Department for Safety and Security declassified the Maiduguri-BamaGwoza/Banki and the Maiduguri-Dikwa-Ngala main supply routes from “No go” to “restricted”, signifying that the UN may use these roads under certain safety conditions.

• In Adamawa State, most return communities continued to live in fear caused by criminality. For instance, in Gidan Madara and Va’atita communities of Mubi South and Mubi North Local Government Areas (LGAs), armed men attacked homes of IDP and refugee returnees, kidnapping people and demanding ransom. A seven-year-old boy and a community leader were abducted in Mubi North and Yola South, respectively.

• In Yobe State, NSAG attacked communities located in the fringes of the Alagarno Forest in Gujba LGA. On 4 January 2022, the groups attacked an ambulance with drugs for an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) in Gujba town. More attacks were reported in Muktum, Goniri, and Kasatchiya communities and people were abducted on the Damaturu-Biu road between 16 and 29 January.

• Meanwhile, the humanitarian community in the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States continued to provide support to the Government of Nigeria as a way of fighting the spread and impact of COVID-19 including community engagement and risk reduction education, vaccination, contact tracing and testing, and treatment, among others.

• On 10 January 2022, Borno Governor signed an important law on child protection, , the Child Rights Law, making Borno the 29th State in Nigeria to domesticate the Child Rights Act. The Governor also assented to the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act. The Child Rights Act of 2003 is meant to protect the rights of children in Nigeria, while the VAPP Bill was passed into law in 2015 to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls in the country. Borno’s Child Rights Law will enhance the implementation of UNHCR’s child protection project funded by the Muslim World League.

• The new Humanitarian Coordinator/Resident Coordinator in Nigeria and the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Coordination and Emergency Relief visited Borno State to raise awareness about the displacement situation in the region.