IMPACT OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT DUE TO INSURGENCY ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.
2.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Internal Displacement
Internal displacement has emerged as one of the worst human catastrophes in the world today. According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (2004) and the African Union (AU) (2009), IDPs are people or groups of people who have been forced or obliged to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, or other natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border. This idea combines both the involuntary or compelled character of migration with the movement taking place inside national boundaries. Internal displacement is the involuntary and forced migration, evacuation, or relocation of people or groups of people inside internationally recognized state boundaries (AU, 2009).
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported that in the world today, there are over 25 million IDPs as a result of violent conflict and human rights violations, with notable cases of Iraq, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, and Colombia containing over 1 million IDPs each (IDMC, 2011). Population displacement and conflict are among the most significant contemporary problems facing the Horn of Africa today, more so than ever before. Political instability, economic deprivation, changing population dynamics and resource scarcity are considered as the natural features of the Horn of Africa. On top of that, more than 1.7 million new displacements occurred associated with conflict and communal violence in Ethiopia and Somalia, and significant numbers of people fled due to devastating floods and drought in both countries (IDMC, 2018a & 2018c).
Furthermore, internal displacement describes the situation of people who have been forced to leave their homes but have not left their country. Millions of people are uprooted from their homes or places of habitual residence each year in the context of conflict, violence, development projects, disasters and climate change and remain displaced within their countries’ borders. Millions more live in situations of protracted internal displacement or face chronic displacement risk. Being in displacement may, in one way or the other, have a negative and harmful effect on different aspects of human life, ranging from the social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being of an individual. Displaced people frequently abandon their homes and means of subsistence, they lose loved ones, they abandon their farmlands, and they find themselves in a new dimension of life that may be filled with sadness, sorrow, and grief.They often experience a number of life obstacles, including disruption in the educational careers of their children, lack of free-hand marital interaction with their spouses, living in an unhygienic environment, and acute malnutrition.
According to UNHCR 2004, Sub-Saharan Africa has over four million displaced persons, the largest number in the world. In an attempt to reduce the problems of displaced persons, the United Nations Refugee Agency in 1995 called for concerted interventions and provided guidelines for action. This call culminated in an international conference in 2001, which encouraged countries to respond to the problems of displaced persons. In northern Nigeria, instability has escalated to become a global issue. It was estimated that the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) apart from refugees rapidly increased, at an average of 1.6 million people per year, from 2000 to 2014 (Crawford, Cosgrave, Haysom, and Walicki, 2015). As a result, forced displacement, Two main categories of victims were produced;, the refugees who cross international borders and IDPs who remain within the borders of the affected individual‘s nation. At the end of 2014, the total number of forcibly displaced persons (refuges plus IDPs) around the globe stood at 59.5 million, with 60% of these being IDPs, within the borders of their own countries (Crawford Cosgrave, Haysom and Walicki, 2015).
It is important to note that forced displacement damages or at least undermines the fabric of communities, producing new vulnerabilities and demands among the impoverished people and families, frequently dispossessed of their livelihoods and property (Christensen and Harild, 2009). During forced relocation, IDPs confront particular vulnerabilities and have specific requirements (Bohnet, Cottier and Hug, 2013). They are, for example, ―an increased risk of being separated from their families, and are especially prone to maltreatment during relocation (Kellenberger 2009). This brings up their special protection requirements, which are linked to the different vulnerabilities they encounter. Among their distinctive requirements, there is usually a need for special protection and support, and this makes them exceptionally vulnerable groups of people, entitled to protection and aid as a matter of priority (ICRC, 2006). (ICRC, 2006)
ICRC (2016) considers that the Nigerian state, via its agencies, departments and ministries and with cooperation from humanitarian actors (international, regional and local) is working to react to the varied needs of IDPs as mandated under the Kampala Convention. Even so, responses are far from meeting the assistance and protection needs of IDPs (ICRC 2016). Although humanitarian actors, especially local organizations, may be more aware of the specific concerns and needs of IDPs, they often lack the financial and logistical capacity to reach out to all the IDPs on time and in situations where they are able to assist IDPs living in host communities, or the assistance they provide is adhoc and insufficient (Beyani, 2013). Internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially those individuals compelled to migrate from their homes and who stay inside the boundaries of their nation, are generally among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people. While international migration and refugee flows make headlines and are prominent in global discussions, domestic displacement is seldom treated with the same political seriousness.
Internally Displaced Person
Scholarly, there is no universally accepted definition of who constitutes an internally displaced person, the United Nations (UN) defines displaced persons under international law as persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obligated to flee or have had cause to flee their homes or places of habitual residence in particular, as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, or violations of human rights (Ladan, 2006). Hence, displaced persons are divided into two categories: refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
IDPs, according to Akuto (2017), are people who have been displaced from their homes and customary support structures due to natural disasters or wars but have not crossed their country's border. They are victims of a variety of injustices, including violent conflicts done against them by their own government or others. Internally Displaced Persons, or IDPs, are mostly victims of man's inhumanity against man. Okon, E. O. 2018 further affirmed that they are victims of a variety of injustices and violent confrontations inflicted by either their own government or outsiders, including community clashes, terrorism, riots, religious disputes, and natural calamities. Internally displaced persons are people or groups of people who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of armed conflict; or to avoid the effects of armed conflict; situations of generalized violence; violations of human rights; or natural or man-made disasters and who have not crossed an international border (Zamudio, 2014). According to a report by the Internal Displaced Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), there are 3.3 million IDPs in Nigeria and 470,500 individuals were displaced in 2013 alone. However, on a global scale, Nigeria is only ranked behind Syria with 6.5 million IDPs and Colombia with 5.7 million IDPs. Although there is a significant difference between an internally displaced person and a refugee.
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a "refugee" is a person who, "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. A precondition for being considered a refugee is that a person must cross an international border. People who are forcibly displaced from their homes who cannot or choose not to leave the country, therefore, are not considered refugees, even if they share many of the same risks and vulnerabilities as those who do. Because their protection and assistance is ultimately the responsibility of their national government, in some cases, the perpetrator of their displacement, whereas IDPs are in an even more precarious position than refugees.
Unlike refugees, internally displaced people are not the subject of any international convention, do not have a dedicated UN agency working for them, nor do they have a special status in international law. The term "internally displaced person" is a description rather than a legal status which could be granted – and therefore revoked. Instead, the definition of IDPs found in the Guiding Principles and mirrored in regional and national frameworks is used to help identify a category of people with specific vulnerabilities related to the fact that they have been internally displaced.
Displacement figures and patterns in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the actual extent of displacement is unclear. Although there is no credible information on the number of internally displaced individuals or their circumstances (IDPs). This is due to the country's complicated displacement patterns and the federal and state administrations' limited ability to gather statistics on IDPs (Blench M.). Estimates published by the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are inconsistent and seldom aggregated by cause, age, or gender, and often only include those who have taken refuge in makeshift camps or shelters such as schools, churches, police stations, and army barracks (Best, 2011). Most IDPs, according to Best (2003), are housed by family. When you consider the fact that there are no permanent IDP camps in the nation, and that improvised settlements often lack basic sanitation and health amenities, it's easy to see why (Orji, 2011).
As of January 2011, the Federal Ministry of Justice estimated that more over 1.3 million people had been displaced by fighting and floods, according to numbers provided to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (GoN, 2011). In contrast, according to a year-long assessment conducted by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), as of October 2011, less than 400,000 people had been displaced, with 74,000 residing in camps (NEMA, 2011). Between January and May 2012, over 50,000 internally displaced people sought sanctuary in temporary settlements and shelters, according to preliminary statistics obtained by the Nigerian Red Cross (NRC, 17 May 2012). A million individuals were internally displaced, according to the head of the board of the National Commission for Refugees (NCFR) in March 2012. (The Punch, March 23, 2012). Data on the length of displacements, IDPs' protection issues, and the attainment of long-term solutions are particularly limited in the absence of a working monitoring structure. During intercommunal confrontations, home destruction has become widespread practice, which is likely to impede return and lead to long-term displacement (Je'adayibe, 2010). According to a May 2012 media story, camps put up to temporarily house IDPs in Kaduna State were still in use a year after the post-election violence (Leadership, 5 May 2012).
Causes of Displacement
Internal displacement may be caused by natural catastrophes (famine, flood, and drought), conflict (war and ethnic violence), human rights violations, and development-induced displacement, according to Lwabukuna (2011). Other four fundamental reasons for internal displacement identified by Terminiski (2013) as the major categorization of internal displacement are conflict-driven, environmentally generated, disaster-induced, and development-induced.Furthermore, official policies and systematic human rights abuses have been identified as a factor of internal displacement in various studies.
Conflict-induced displacement refers to people who are compelled to leave their usual abode as a consequence of an increase in internal violence or armed conflict. People may be evacuated from their houses without proper compensation, assurances, or social support systems, or they may be in the early stages of a resettlement process that involves the actual removal of people from their homes (Terminiski, 2013). Natural disaster-induced displacement, man-made disaster-induced displacement, conflict-induced displacement, and development-induced displacement are the four causes of internal displacement described by Mehari (2017). According to Mehari, the primary causes of internal displacement in Nigeria were natural disaster-induced displacement, conflict-induced displacement, and development-induced displacement.Among the various causes of internal displacement, the following factors have contributed to the high rate of internal displacement in Nigeria:
Displacement caused by inter-communal or political conflict:
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), there were only 1.2 million IDPs in 11 countries in 1982. Nevertheless, by 1995, there were 20 to 25 million IDPs in over 40 countries, about twice as many as refugees. At the end of 2008, 26 million individuals had been internally displaced due to war, general violence, or human rights abuses throughout the globe. By the end of 2009, the amount had risen to 27.1 million, and by the end of 2010, it had risen to 27.5 million. 1DMC (2008), 2009, and 2010. At the end of 2012, the projected amount was 28.8 million, meaning that an extra 6.5 million people had been displaced, roughly double the 3.5 million in 2011. IDMC (2013).
The presidential elections in April 2011, which saw President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner from the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP), re-elected, were among the bloodiest in history. "Zoning," an unwritten internal PDP power-sharing arrangement that calls for the north and south to switch presidential authority every two years, should have resulted in the election of a northerner (HRW 2011). Among the 6 states in Nigeria, protests by supporters of the major opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner from the Congress for Progressive Change, devolved into rioting and sectarian confrontations. In the northern states of Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Gombe, and Sokoto, over 1,000 people were murdered and over 65,000 were displaced (Albert, 2011). Despite efforts to reduce tensions via zoning, elections are often plagued by extensive intercommunal violence (Enweremadu, 2011).
Across Nigeria, a nation made up of a complex network of ethnic groups, lengthy intercommunal conflicts motivated by religious, regional, or ethnic tensions often result in death and relocation. The Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo ethnic groups account for more than half of the population, although they cohabit alongside as many as 400 other ethnic groups (Alulaigba, 2009; HRW, 2009). Intercommunal violence has been reinterpreted along religious lines due to the rough overlap of ethnic, religious, and regional differences. According to Gwamna Dogara Je'adayibe, a Nigerian professor, conflicts triggered by religious tensions have resulted in the biggest number of IDPs. The state of Zamfara embraced sharia law as its only legal system in 1999. Several other northern states expressed interest in following suit, and by 2002, 11 had done so. In February 2000, this resulted in a series of riots and deadly battles between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna. Many Christians among the Igbo were slaughtered. Christians and Muslims fled to places controlled by their own religion for safety concerns, and as numbers departed the far north, religious tensions rose in other locations. Igbo factions in the south slaughtered hundreds of mostly Muslim Hausa migrants from the north in retaliation for the Kaduna violence (HRW, 2003 Meredith 2005).
Religious violence occurred in Jos, the capital of Plateau state, in 2001. Jos is located on the dividing line between the mostly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south. Over 1,000 people were murdered, and tens of thousands more were displaced (Best, 2011, HRW, 2006). Many people have relocated to neighboring Bauchi state, either temporarily or permanently (Blench, 2003). As a consequence of the authorities' unwillingness to take appropriate steps to avoid violence and protect civilians, fatal skirmishes resulting in displacement have erupted on a regular basis in and around Jos since then (Orji, 2011).
In 2010, 30,000 people evacuated the region due to conflict. Prejudiced government policies have exacerbated tensions within communities by relegating millions of Nigerians to second-class citizens by discriminating against "non-indigenes" or "settlers" who cannot show links to the area's original occupants (CERD, 2010; HRW, 2006: and 2009:). The idea of "indigenisation" was created with the goal of safeguarding the identity, rights, and interests of the country's diverse minority communities. It has, however, become a potent tool of exclusion, denying non-indigenous people access to already scarce resources and opportunities like education, property ownership, political engagement, and public sector employment (the state being a major employer) (AI, 2011, Agenda: 31; HRW 2006 and 2009). Although Nigeria's 1999 Constitution outlaws discrimination based on ethnicity or place of origin, non-indigenes are considered as citizens of a foreign country in many ways, undermining the significance of national citizenship (Alulaigba, 2009; HRW, 2006). More than a million Nigerians are classified as non-indigenes, and an increasing number of people are unable to demonstrate that they are native to a certain state. Since the mid-1970s, the expansion of states and local government regions as a result of different decentralisation efforts has produced this growth (AI, 2011, Agenda: 31; HRW 2006). Non-indigenes have been pitted against "host" populations in some of the worst battles in recent years (Egwu, 2011; HRW, 2006; Ladan, 2011).
DISPLACEMENT PIONEERED BY INSURGENCY AND MILITANCY
Insurgency, banditry, and militancy attacks have caused death, destruction of property, and significant displacement since 2009. Since 2009, increasingly frequent and sophisticated attacks and bombings attributed to Boko Haram, as well as the ensuing heavy-handed counterinsurgency operations, have caused death, destruction of property, and significant displacement. Insurgency is a condition of revolt against a government that is less than an organised revolution and that is not recognised as belligerency (Peter, 1964). It is the rising up against what is believed to be a constituted or legitimate authority. The term "insurgency" is used in describing a movement's unlawfulness and capacity to pose a threat to a state or seen as such by another authority, especially when viewed from the backdrop of its not being authorised, and therefore executing a cause that is illegitimate (Shafer, 1988). When used as in the consideration above, those causing the uprising are seen as rebels, whereas those rising up will see the authority itself as being illegitimate. Insurgency is an act of rebellion against a legitimate authority. However, such an authority would have acquired the recognition by an international body such as the United Nations, while those taking part in the rebellion are not recognised as belligerents. It becomes deduced from the foregoing that if there is a rebellion against the authority (for example the United Nations) and those taking part in the rebellion are not recognised as belligerents, the rebellion is an insurgency. The United States Department of Defence (DOD, 2007) defines insurgency as an organised movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict. The threats of insurgency has intensified and assumed global dimension in recent times. However, not all rebellions are insurgencies. A rebellion may not be viewed as an insurgency if a state of belligerency exists between one or more sovereign states and rebel forces, even if the revolt takes the form of armed rebellion. Boko Haram has murdered over 1,000 individuals since 2010, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW, 7 March 2012). The group, has been expanding in ambition and skill, and their first was target Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, and Kano in northern Nigeria. It first targeted buildings in Jos in late 2010, and has subsequently moved farther south, hitting the police and UN offices in Abuja in June and August 2011, respectively (Shaka, 2011; The Economist, 27 Aug. 2011). It started by targeting police stations, government buildings, and churches, before moving on to clubs and beer gardens in June 2011 and schools in February 2012. (HRW, 2012).
Boko Haram, which means "western education is banned" in Hausa, was created in the north-eastern city of Maduguri a decade ago. It gained notoriety in 2009 after starting an insurgency against the government in multiple northern states, which resulted in the deaths of over 800 people (Danjibo, 2009: 10; HRW, March 2012).
Its initiatives are aimed at enforcing strict adherence to sharia law, a philosophy that is not commonly accepted in a nation where Muslims are generally moderate (IRIN, 20 Jan. 2012; The Economist, 27 Aug. 2011). After a series of assaults in late December 2011 that left more than 100 people dead and 90,000 homeless, the president declared a state of emergency in vast sections of the north and sent thousands of soldiers to confront the organization. After Boko Haram issued a warning to Christians residing in the Hausa-dominated north to go or risk retaliation, Igbo leaders in the south-east urged Igbo families to flee to the south, offering a free shuttle bus service (BBC, 2012). Thousands of individuals are said to have gone since then, and families have been broken up to transfer women and children to safer locations in the south-east, a scenario reminiscent of the population exodus from northern states sparked by religious confrontations in 2000.
According to NEMA, the eviction of 17,000 farmers from the north might result in a severe drop in agricultural productivity and a food catastrophe in the area (Africa Review, 1 April 2012; The Guardian, 27 March 2012). Because of the insecurity, tens of thousands of migrants from Chad and Niger have left northern Nigeria for their home countries in recent months (IRIN, 6 March 2012). Although there is a condition of violence in Nigeria that is causing fatalities and displacement, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in March 2012 that it does not fit the requirements for an internal war (National Mirror, 22 March 2012). An armed conflict occurs, according to Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its commentary, when the situation may be classified as "prolonged armed violence," which can be judged using two criteria: the parties' organization and the level of the violence (ICRC, 2008: 5; Vité, 2009: 76). Internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots or isolated and intermittent acts of violence, must have reached a degree that separates it from the latter (Vité, 2009: 76).
Militancy in the Niger Delta: A break in the combat between the government and MEND Until 2009, the majority of Nigeria's political violence took place in the south, in the heavily populated Niger Delta area, which is the country's oil and gas heartland. Thousands of people were killed or forced to flee their homes as a result of fighting between militants and government troops sent to safeguard oil sites and workers between 2004 and 2009. (IRIN, 22 May 2009). Militants claimed to be fighting for greater control of oil riches by the local population, whose fields had been contaminated and whose area, despite its resources, remained one of the poorest and least developed in the nation. They waged a campaign against both oil firms and the government (Falola, 2008, Ibaba, 2011 Ibeanu, 2006, Madubuike, 2009). Following a presidential amnesty, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), an umbrella organization created in 2005 to represent a variety of militant groups, proclaimed an indefinite truce in October 2009, bringing relative calm to the area. Fighting has returned by the end of 2010, resulting in the destruction of at least 120 houses and the deaths of numerous people. MEND ended their ceasefire in January 2011. (AI, Annual Report 2011; IRIN, 25 Nov. 2011; The Economist, 12 Nov. 2009 and 14 Jan. 2012). The amnesty program has been criticized for failing to address the core causes of the issue, which include underdevelopment and weak governance (Ibaba, 2011: 64). It is unknown if IDPs have found long-term solutions. According to a government assessment from January 2011, Edo state was sheltering almost 250,000 persons displaced from the Niger Delta (GoN, 2011: 74).
INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA
Insurgency in Nigeria is manifested on the anchor of terrorism. Therefore to explain insurgency in Nigeria, one has to look from the angle of Terrorism.
Terrorism is derived from the word terror, which invokes the images of trepidation and fear. It is an act that is usually unprovoked, random, unpredictable, and intended to instill fear in the targeted victim(s). Terrorism continues to be a difficult concept to define. This is because the phenomenon is intangible and fluctuates depending on the historical and geographical contexts within which it is used. As such, terrorism, being a value-laden concept, is difficult to capture in a single definition and may be impossible to operationalize satisfactorily. The most commonly held definition of terrorism was proffered by the United Nations in 1992 and defined terrorism as: an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the primary targets (White, 2004, p.4).
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) (the source of the data used in this study) defines terrorism as "the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation” (GTD, 2016, p. 9). This definition is well-rounded and includes acts such as bombings, armed assaults, and assassinations.
Terrorism is not new to Nigeria. Domestic terrorism within the country has a long history (Adesoji, 2010; Adesoji, 2011; Solomon, 2012; Adeyeri, 2012). One of the earliest documented accounts of extremist events occurred in the 1980s due to the Maitatsine movement, a series of violent uprisings instigated by Islamist militants in Northern Nigeria between 1980 and 1985 (Adesoji, 2011). The movement was famous for its condemnation of Western culture, education, and technology.
Its followers were young, poor, former seasonal laborers who had been economically displaced by the oil boom and petty merchants and youths seeking an Islamic education in Kano state Nigeria (Isichei, 1987; Adesoji, 2011). Both the Southern and Northern geopolitical zones of Nigeria have experienced terrorism. Groups like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in the South-South region and Boko Haram in the Northern region have posed the most significant security challenge in Nigeria (Adeyeri, 2012; Maiangwa & Agbiboa, 2014; Nsude, 2016). These groups adopted strategies such as looting, arson, kidnapping, illegal detention, killings, and suicide bombing.
Terrorist activity has drastically increased in the last few years. After 2009, terrorism in Nigeria took a different direction when internal violence metamorphosed from ethnic militancy to suicide bombing and claimed over 3,000 lives; this led to the declaration of a state of emergency in three Northern states (Olalekan, 2012). With the 2011 attack of the United Nations’ building in Abuja, Nigeria, the country’s image was adversely affected, its impact on the international scene was undermined, and the domestic manifestation of violence within the country became a matter of global interest (Onapajo & Uzodike, 2012). To better understand, it is essential to discuss the major terrorist organizations that have
operated within Nigeria.
TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN NIGERIA AND THEIR MOTIVATIONS
The pattern of insecurity in Nigeria has been regionalized: militia groups in the south, the insurgency in the North, kidnapping in the East and South, ritual killings in the East and West, political and nonpolitical calculated assassinations across the nation (Ikenga & Efebeh, 2013; Obi, 2015). The crises in the Southern region, which started in the 1990s, arising from different militant groups' activities have negatively impacted economic development in Nigeria (Nwogwugwu et al., 2012). Organizations such MEND, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC), Niger Delta Vigilante Force (NDVF), Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), among others, in the Southern region, was famous for hostage-taking, kidnapping for ransom, pipeline vandalism,oil-theft, arson and ambush (Nwogwugwu et al. 2012; Adeyeri, 2012; Obi, 2015). These groups utilized kidnapping and hostage-taking to force experts involved in crude oil exploration to pressure the Nigerian government to take decisive steps towards ameliorating the environmental, social, and political problems bedeviling the area (Obi, 2015). The government (particularly the Jonathan administration) took steps to reduce the violence in the Southern regions through its amnesty programs. The militants were offered jobs, scholarships to study oil-related majors, and vocational training programs. This led to a marked reduction in violent activities in the Southern regions of Nigeria (Obi, 2015)
Additionally, religious and political clashes have rocked the Northern regions of Nigeria. However, the emergence of Boko Haram led to the metamorphoses of these clashes to full-blown terrorism. Boko Haram emerged as a radical fundamentalist Islamic sect, formed by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf in 2002 in Maiduguri, Borno state. In 2004, the organization moved and set up a base called Afghanistan in Kanamma, Yobe state (Ikenga & Efebeh, 2013). The sect officially calls itself "Jama'atul Alhul Sunnah Liddo' wati Wal Jihad," which means "people committed to the propagation of the prophet's teachings and Jihad" (Ikenga & Efebeh 2013; Elden, 2014; Bamidele, 2015). Their violent activity started in 2009, and the crimes committed by this Islamic sect included: the bombing of marketplaces, churches, and government buildings, destruction of vehicles, burning of churches, police stations, schools, hospitals, clinics, army barracks, and residential houses, as well as the adoption of expatriates.
Another major insecurity challenge facing Nigeria involves the activities of the Fulani herdsmen. The Fulani Militants are not members of one group, but they are nomads traveling from city to city on foot to graze their livestock (Obi, 2015). In their travels, they frequently trespass farmlands owned by locals in their host communities, destroying crops
and valuables. Attempts by farmers to prevent the destruction of their properties lead to death, injury, and eviction from their homes due to the stiff and violent resistance from the Fulani herdsmen. There have also been allegations to the effect that the herdsmen take advantage of these opportunities to steal, raze houses, rape, and kill innocent members of the communities they pass through (Chilaka & Odoh, 2012; Obi, 2015).
Furthermore, it is unknown if the individual attacks by the Fulani Militants are related. It has also been contested that these attacks could be related to the activities of other terrorist groups. Many argue that they may be Boko Haram members passing off as Fulani herdsmen. Others (including the Nigerian military) posit that they are herdsmen from other parts of West Africa and not Fulani (Akinola, & Tella, 2013; Awoniyi, 2013). While the latter may be plausible due to porous Nigerian borders and inadequate immigration surveillance, it is challenging to correlate Boko Haram terrorists' activities to those of the Fulani herdsmen (Akinola, & Tella, 2013; Awoniyi, 2013). Boko Haram has utilized
explosives carried by suicide bombers or hidden in a target. However, accounts by victims of the herdsmen crisis have shown that the Fulani militants' primary interest is to gain greater access to grazing lands for their livestock (Chilaka & Odoh, 2012; Akinola, & Tella, 2013; Awoniyi, 2013; Obi, 2015).
DISPLACEMENT DUE TO FORCED EVICTIONS
Since 2000, more than two million urban Nigerians, mostly slum dwellers and other disadvantaged people, have been forcefully evicted from their homes, with the most recent evictions taking place in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. Evictions ordered by the government in the name of security and urban regeneration have occurred without proper consultation, notification, compensation, or offers of alternative housing. Forced evictions, which amount to arbitrary displacement, often result in infringement of other human rights, such as the right to health care, education, and livelihood possibilities, in addition to violating victims' right to sufficient housing (AI, 2011, Agenda: 39). Thousands of individuals have been displaced inside cities as a result of forced evictions.
IMPLICATION OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN
The members of the Boko Haram forcibly kidnapped a lot of innocent children and adults while many were killed and some were unaccounted for in Boko Haram terroristic war fought in order to register their grievances against the authorities. The kidnapped children and grown-up people were helplessly subdued and kept in the Boko Haram den. Most of them spent years in captivity while some of them were being used foractivities against their willbut they were rather servedthe interests of the militants. For instance, the 287 Chibok Girls’ Secondary School students were kidnapped in 2013, only 152 were freed while the rest remained in captivity. The Girls Secondary school student in Dapchi were kidnapped on but thegovernment led by President Buhari rescued all of them except a girl ‘Lear’ who refused to renounce her Christianity still remained with the Boko Haram. A significant number of people that were not captured by the militant groups were displaced out of the fear of being caught for similar motives. Some were displaced as a result of the demise of their parents, guardians or relatives in their presence when they were being terrorized or attacked at gunpoint. Lack of food security, shelter, and a decent life are among reasons for IDP to take place as they may not survive in their family or rented houses that were already razed or burnt down by the terrorist groups.
Internally displaced persons are physically, psychologically and socially displaced as they have to relocate to refugees’ camp and this emphasizes the need for counseling for such people. The displacement of citizens from their original place of residence has a lot of social and psychological consequences on the victims and this can have disastrous consequences on these individuals if left unchecked. Being in displacement may in one way or the other have a negative and harmful effect to different aspect of human life ranging from social, emotional, physical, spiritual and emotional well-being of an individual. The displaced people often leave their shelter and means of livelihood, they loss their love ones, they abandon their farmlands and found themselves in new dimension of life which may be full of sadness, sorrow and grief.
Internal displacement is a common consequence of Nigerian inter-communal and political violence, flooding and forced evictions (IDMC, 2013). In other words, internal displacement of persons could be triggered by natural disasters or human-induced conflict which leads to violent clashes. Irrespective of the cause of the displacement, the phenomenon always leaves negative socioeconomic footprints on millions of people worldwide. A serious source of concern however lies with internal displacement of persons arising from human-induced violent clashes and conflicts in recent times. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) arising from violent clashes are victims of various kind of injustices or violence confrontations, perpetrated against them by their own government or agents of communal clashes, riots, terrorism, natural disasters, religious conflicts, among others (Hamzat, 2013).
IDPs suffer emotional problems which are characterized by memory of fearful events and nightmare, loss of livelihoods, frustrations, abuses, threats of assaults etc. (Mazo, 2011). The misery of displaced persons has in recent years become a formidable problem of global significance and implications (Ladan, 2001). The causal factors of internally displacement of persons in Nigeria has been linked to many unfortunate developments over unfounded arguments on religious beliefs, under-development, poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, ethnic tensions, unemployment, political and economic subjugation of minorities, absence of democratic procedures, intolerance, and many other factors. The grave consequence of this has impacted nearly every facet of national development including investments in real estate.The investment climate in Nigeria is bedevilled with insecurity. The activities of ethnic militia in Nigeria have gradually turned daytime into darkness; where violence, all form of crime, assassination, conflicts and other criminal offenses are on the increase thereby making the investment environment appalling (Oronsaye and Igbafe, 2012) .
According to Global IDP Project (2005), homes and infrastructure have often been systematically destroyed and looted during - and sometimes after- outbreaks of communal violence, in order to deter returning IDPs. This is evident in Nigeria situation. For instance, Human Right Watch reported that thousands of residents of Baga in Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria, remained displaced for fear of further clashes breaking out between radical Islamist group (Boko Haram) and troops from the Nigeria-Niger-Chad Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
To children, Displacement poses greater physical and psychosocial challenges and risks for children as they are more prone to abuse, neglect and exploitation prevalent in IDP camps. Owing to their weak physical stature, age, and inability to protect themselves without adult support, these displaced children are physically, mentally and emotionally vulnerable living in the harmful environment of the camps (IDMC, 2012). Presumably, lack of parental supervision is a huge contributing factor towards the abuse and mistreatment of young children and adolescents. In addition, since the camps for the displaced are overly populated, the camps’ environments frequently result in exposure to peer group violence and gang behaviour that result in abuse and exploitation. Sometimes parents themselves, because of their mental disturbances and ineffective coping skills, become the perpetrators of physical abuse of their children. Parents may project their own anger and frustration onto their children, causing temporary physical harm but also long-term physical and psychological harm to their children.Hence, risk factors affecting displaced children’s mental health include personal, social and environmental factors, resulting in adverse psychological and emotional development (Masten, 2001).
All children living in these temporary arrangements need health and educational services, nutritional support, access to clean water and sanitation, in addition to protection from abuse and exploitation. Loss of family members and exposure to horrific violence has left many children struggling with a sense of uncertainty, insecurity and fear. After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, surveys identified that families living in unofficial camps had received minimum assistance and resources. Even the basic medical facilities for underlying medical issues were also inaccessible for the families, leaving children more vulnerable (Chan & Kim, 2010).
Internal displacement can result in exclusion from social services. It can interrupt children’s education and separate them from their familiar school environment, teachers and classmates, sometimes for months or years. When they are able to go back to school, whether in their community of origin, host area or in a camp, they must make up for lost time. They also must manage the stress and trauma associated with their displacement. Displaced children often have lower enrolment and achievement rates than their nondisplaced peers. Disruption to education can harm the mental health of displaced children and increase psychosocial instability. It can affect social cohesion and damage security in the short and long term. Inclusive, good quality education can be a stabilizing factor and bring societies together.I will Disruption to education can also reduce children’s livelihood opportunities. It may affect their future earnings as adults, creating a poverty trap that endures even after displacement and that prevents durable solutions. Failing to include children affected by internal displacement in education can thus result in long-term disadvantages for them, their future dependents and their communities. It can have repercussions on a country’s socioeconomic development and stability, slowing progress towards the SDGs.
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Displacement Effect Theory (Sigmund Freud)
According to the Freudian psychology, the displacement theory coins the idea of the mind mechanism of keeping or disposing of information in human mind. This unconscious process happens within and the transference of emotions, ideas, and information happens to alleviate fretfulness. The concept were similar to dream distortion were the newer taught replaced the unimportant information and this transference of emotions that occur during various situations can be psychologically termed as displacement effect. Displacement effects theory states that the human mind has a defense mechanism which involuntarily displaces the effects from an individual or anything which are felt unacceptable to another situation which the mind distinguished more acceptable. This unconscious activity which occurs in the mind finds a satisfying alternative to the basic objective and is basically done to relieve stress and other tensions. The displacement effects acts like a cycle. The human mind unconsciously finds itself a solution for the problem which causes the stress and to alleviate the situation the displacement occurs to a situation or to an entity which can be of little or no relevance.
Displacement effects can be seen in the situations leading to anger and this can only be resolved through anger otherwise the effects can grow overtime. In most of the cases the effect of the emotion is let out to the target or to a safer alternative. Displacement effects can be a common issue in many cases and the effects can be minor in most of the cases. But the extreme effects of displacement effects can be dangerous and is considered a psychotic problem that may need to be seriously evaluated and treated. Psychologists can treat with methods to control the emotions with more effective ways of dealing and to overcome this situation.
Frustration-Agression Theory
The frustration-aggression hypothesis was introduced by a group of Yale University psychologists—John Dollard, Leonard Doob, Neal Miller, O.H. Mowrer, and Robert Sears—in an important monograph, Frustration and Aggression (1939), in which they integrated ideas and findings from several disciplines, especially sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Their work was notable for its eclectic use of psychoanalysis, behaviourism, and Marxism. It became one of the most influential explanations of aggressive behaviour in the history of social science.
In the realm of intergroup relations, the frustration-aggression hypothesis was used to shed light on the dynamics of stereotyping, prejudice, and out-group hostility. The theory of scapegoating is probably the most well-known application of the frustration-aggression hypothesis to the study of prejudice. Drawing in part on Freudian concepts of displacement, projection, and catharsis, the scapegoating theory held that once frustration and the impetus for aggressive behaviour have occurred, it makes relatively little difference who receives the brunt of the violence. In some cases, aggression naturally takes the form of retaliation against the initial source of frustration. In other cases, situational constraints can prevent a person from being able to react against the actual source of frustration (such as when the frustration was caused by a very powerful person or group). In still other cases, such as natural disasters, there may be no one to blame, but the frustration can still produce aggressive inclinations.
According to the theory, the displacement of aggression onto a socially sanctioned (i.e., convenient) victim group serves several purposes. First, and most important, it channels the expression of aggressive impulses and creates cathartic relief once the aggression has been released. Second, it is socially undesirable to behave violently toward others in the absence of justification, but prejudicial attitudes can be used to justify (or rationalize) the expression of hostility. In that way, members of disadvantaged groups can be blamed for their own plight as targets of hostility and prejudice. Finally, in accordance with psychoanalytic thought, the theory of scapegoating suggests that victim blaming is exacerbated by the projection of (typically unconscious) guilt that frustrated parties feel as a result of their own prejudice and violent activity.
2.4 REVIEW OF PREVIOUS/EMPIRICAL STUDIES
In a study conducted by Umaru A. & Mohammed B. H. (2017) on the needs for rehabilitating victims of insurgency in internally displaced persons camps through counseling for national integration in Yobe state, Nigeria, Descriptive survey design was used. The population for the study was all the victims of insurgency in internally displaced camps in Yobe state. A sample of 300 respondents (150 males & 150 females) was randomly selected. Two research questions guided the study. The instrument for data collection was titled: "Counseling Needs and Strategies for Internally Displaced Persons Camps Questionnaire (CNIDPCQ), developed by the researchers for the study." The method for data analysis was simple percentages. The findings showed that the victims of insurgency need rehabilitation through counseling for national integration, which revealed over 65% of the following: loss of confidence in life, government neglect to provide basic amenities, unemployment, drug/alcohol/substance abuse, feeling stressed and upset, loss of self-esteem, frequent conflict in the camp, fear of others in the camp, frustration, being deprived of possessing properties, right to nationality, inequalities in gender/status, bad leadership, insecurity in camp, false religious teachings, false religious teachings, false religious teachings, false religious teachings, false religious teachings, false religious teachings, deprived of The study showed that counseling services for rehabilitation are orientation programmes for victims, individual as well as group counseling strategies may not be the best counseling strategies for rehabilitating the victims of insurgency in IDP camps for national integration in Yobe State. It was recommended that counselors should sensitize the internally displaced persons camp leaders and other employers in the camps through workshops and seminars to emphasize how to rehabilitate the victims of insurgency.
Umaru, A. (2018) conducted a study on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and counselling intervention in IDP camps of Borno state, Nigeria. The security challenges in the state exerted pressure on the people, leading to the creation of an internally displaced persons’ camp in Borno state. The paper examined what internally displaced persons are. The term Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was explained. Some of the causes are disasters, accidents, and physical assaults. Some symptoms are hyper arousal and emotional numbing, and treatments are given by group therapy and psychodynamic therapy. Counselling intervention in the Internally Displaced Persons camps in Borno state was suggested and a conclusion was reached.
Stephen O. Omonyemen J. (2020) conducted a study on counselling for the rehabilitation of internally displaced individuals, post-crisis interaction and recovery (IDPs) in Nigeria. The thriving concept of this study is the counseling that brings about wholesome rehabilitation with a positive self-concept among internalized displaced individuals in IDPs. The paper identifies the grave challenges faced by the displaced people, points out the importance of counselling as part of measures to assist IDPs, and the role of key stakeholders such as civil society organizations (CSOs) and educational intuitions, governmental and non-governmental organizations. Thus, the challenges facing IDPs need a collaborative effort to ameliorate their plight. Therefore, this paper discusses the concept of internally displaced persons (IDPs), challenges facing IDPs in Nigeria, the role of stakeholders in tackling the challenges of IDPs in Nigeria, and the implications of the challenges for counselling. The study recommended that the greatest good that can be done for displaced persons in Nigeria is not only to protect and eliminate them but to introduce counselling to all IDPs who will counsel them in all areas of life, like appointments, marriages, family and social areas.