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Uprooted again, Nigerians who fled Boko Haram face new dangers
At least 100,000 displaced people around Maiduguri face evictions, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, OCHA, but aid groups say most families are unwilling to return to their ancestral lands, especially in northern parts of Borno, which they deem unsafe.
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Inmates who escaped during the attack by suspected Boko haram fighters wait after being captured and returned back to Kuje prison, in Abuja, Nigeria July 6, 2022
(Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)
W
hen Aisha found out she would be evicted from her camp for displaced people in northeastern Nigeria, the only thing she knew for certain was that she could not go home to the town devastated by Boko Haram militants five years earlier.
The 15-year-old is one of millions of people driven from their homes into camps due to an Islamist insurgency that has killed nearly 350,000 people, with many now facing an uncertain future as local authorities close the makeshift settlements.
"What will I be going back home to meet? Boko Haram militants destroyed our homes, our schools, our farms and our markets. We no longer have our houses to return to," said Aisha, asking to use a pseudonym to protect her identity.
When the militants raided her town, Baga in the northeastern state of Borno, Aisha became separated from her mother, who she has not been in contact with since, and she arrived at the Teachers Village camp in Maiduguri with neighbours.
Despite the hardships of life in Teachers Village, it had become a home of sorts for Aisha and more than 30,000 other internally displaced people (IDP).
So when, in January, the Borno state government shut the camp on the grounds of improved security in conflict hotspots, Aisha was plunged into uncertainty.
At least 100,000 displaced people around Maiduguri face evictions, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, OCHA, but aid groups say most families are unwilling to return to their ancestral lands, especially in northern parts of Borno, which they deem unsafe.
