The UNHCR report on violence in North-East
By IF anyone was in doubt as to the fact that the North-East is imperilled unless drastic changes are made in the country’s security architecture, the recent report by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on the violence in the region certainly put paid to such qualms. Speaking during the Second Regional Protection Dialogue on the Lake Chad Basin in Abuja, the representative of the UNHCR in Nigeria, Antonio Jose Canhandula, stated that about 1.9 million persons are currently displaced in the zone. Canhandula added that normally, people were not supposed to be in the camps due to insecurity, but the menace of Boko Haram in the North-East, especially in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, had forced them to relocate to the camps for safety. On her part, the UNHCR Regional Representative for West Africa, Liz Kpam Ahua, revealed that those currently displaced in the zone were about 320,000 persons.
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Ahua said: “The Lake Chad Basin (LCB) continues to face a protection crisis across four countries. While we acknowledge the deliberate and concerted efforts of the four countries of the LCB to bring the Boko Haram crisis to an end and while recognising the successes achieved by military operations that have led to the recovery of local government areas in north-eastern Nigeria that had been hitherto occupied by Boko Haram, we are dismayed to witness new displacement of people in Borno State and the flight of thousands more into Cameroon and Chad. Altogether, close to 320,000 persons were displaced anew in the last three months of 2018 and in January. We share the pains inflicted on over 7.5 million women, girls, boys, men, young and old, in the LCB. Whether internally displaced, of which there are over 2.5 million, or in exile, of which there are close to 230,000 now or those indirectly impacted, we feel their pain, their deprivation and the violence arising from the Boko Haram crisis.”
It is indeed distressing that a week before this year’s general election, terrorists and bandits have contined to unleash a reign of terror on the North-East. While, ahead of the 2015 general election, the military recorded great strides in its counter-terrorism efforts, recovering town after town from Boko Haram terrorists, the country is currently confronted with the ugly spectacle of Boko Haram and other lawless outfits springing surprises on it and bathing entire communities in blood. Sadly, the more the outlaws overrun communities in the zone, the more the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration continues to bask in the illusion that it has addressed the dire security situation not just in the North-East but also in the country as a whole. If anything, the lamentations by governors in the zone ought to have compelled the Federal Government to do serious soul-searching and reinvent its counter-terrorism operations in the North-East. That it did not is both sad and unfortunate, but it must act now and act fast. Surely, a situation whereby policemen and soldiers continue to die in droves, putting the lives of the people who depend on them for protection in jeopardy, cannot augur well for the country. Indeed, only on Tuesday, bandits struck in Zamfara, killing 15 persons. For how long can the people continue to endure such atrocities?
To say the least, humanitarian crisis has worsened in the zone, and even internally displaced persons protesting the appalling conditions in which they are being kept were reportedly doused with tear gas by the police, suggesting that the state has become a terror to the people. This has to stop. Again, while not against the UNHCR’s cal on the international community to assist the zone with more aid, it is our considered view that the aid made available previously by local and international organisations has not been judiciously utilised. If reports in the dailies are anything to go by, the corruption currently going on in official circles in the zone is unprecedented, in spite of the Buhari administration’s anti-graft veneer. Those sipohoning the resources meant to cushion the effects of war in the North-East must be made to account for their crimes.
To be sure, our objection to the horrendous situation in the North-East is not predicated solely on the 2019 elections. There is, we believe, nothing more precious than human life and if government has any responsibility to the people, it is to keep them safe and secure. Wittingly or unwittingly, it has abdicated that responsibilities in the North-East and made life short, nasty and brutish for the long-suffering people of the zone. There is therefore no better time than the moment to begin to make amends. The number of persons displaced in the zone is both staggering and distressing: with 1.9 million people displaced, it rankles to think that there is indeed a government in place.
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