Internally Displaced Persons and Human Security in North-East Nigeria

Abstract

The political entity referred to as Nigeria has been quite disturbed in recent times as a result of insurgency which resulted to the phenomenon of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The present study investigated the following research questions: 1) did the inter-agency collaborative approach to IDP management address the human security crisis in North-East Nigeria, between 2015 and 2023? And did the challenge of force displacement exacerbate human rights violation in North-East Nigeria, between 2015 and 2023? The study adopted data principally from secondary sources which was analyzed qualitatively. Using the propositions of the Displaced Aggression theory, results reveal that the state's inability to provide security and solve the socioeconomic problems of its citizens is what drove the insurgency that has further resulted in the mass population displacement. The consequences of these unfavorable tendencies, as this study reveals, include loss of lives, insecurity, population displacement, ethnic and religious intolerance and above all economic misfortunes. Based on our findings, the study recommends that the government should wake up to its responsibility of providing and protecting this special population; therefore, periodic monitoring and reviews of the conditions of displaced persons in camps is strongly recommended, in addressing the plight of force displacement and human rights violations of IDPs, it should seek long-term solutions to these problems pertaining to forced migration.