Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State is one of the places most hit by banditry in the State. These incessant attacks have left thousands of people displaced and made many others flee from their villages. As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the country, JUSTINA ASISHANA visited the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Kuta and Gwada, to see how the IDPs are coping with the challenges caused by the pandemic

Sleeping in a room with 20 people is not something that Zakari Umar ever thought he would have to experience. Umar owned a house in Mazuku village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State where he lived with his wife and children before he escaped one of the never-ending bandit attacks.

Shiroro, which has a population of 235,404 based on the 2006 census, has become the epicentre of conflicts in Niger State related to banditry, kidnapping and pastoralists attacks. Recent attacks have led to increased population displacement.

Niger State currently has five IDP camps located in Shiroro, Rafi, Munya and Wushishi LGAs with over 16,000 IDPs as of February 2020. This is in addition to many others who are in host communities. There are another 10,000 people earlier displaced from their homes between November and December last year, across the three local government areas.

Umar shares the room in Kuta camp with 19 other men. This is because men and women are allocated separate sleeping quarters. He counts himself lucky that there are only 20 in a standard-sized room, which is equivalent to a regular classroom.

“Sometimes the women are more than 25 in a room and they share this space with their children since you cannot separate the children from their mothers,” he says.

Gwada, Kuta and Zumba are three communities in Shiroro with government recognised IDP camps. However, there are countless informal IDP camps spread across the local government area which are not recognized by the government.

The conflict in Shiroro, as in other parts of Nigeria’s North West, is due to persistent herder-farmer tensions, rising crime and infiltration by Islamist militants. Over 8,000 people have been killed since the violence started in 2011, and more than 300,000 people have been displaced.

Youth and community leaders had told newsmen during a press briefing in August 2020 that over 80 communities in about eight wards in the LGA have been affected by the conflict. Many of these communities were said to have experienced repeated attacks by these bandits.

The most affected wards include Alawa, Bassa/Kukoki, Gurmana, Manta, Galadima Kogo, Kwaki/Chukuba, Kurebe/Kushaka and Erena.

According to a consortium of three NGOs which include the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and Mercy Crops under the auspices of  ACAPS, the activities of bandits in Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, Zamfara and Katsina states have displaced over 160,000 internally since the beginning of 2020.

The Nigeria Security Tracker tracks violence that is both causal and symptomatic of Nigeria’s political instability and citizen alienation. As at 27th December 2020, the Nigeria Security Tracker showed that Niger state has 654 reported deaths caused by violence perpetrated by bandits since May 2011. The data are based on weekly surveys of Nigerian and international media.

Water, sanitation and hygiene issues in the camps

At the Kuta and Gwada camps, there are few sanitation facilities. In Kuta camp, available facilities are pit latrines which were filled. The camp residents have no option but to practise open defecation.

“It is not our wish to do this, but all our toilets are filled up and we find it difficult to use them. We have no alternative but to go to the bush at night,” explained Hauwa Zakari, one of the women in Kuta IDP camp.

She explained that she and other women try their best to clean the usable toilets and their surroundings but they cannot do much now that they are filled up. Kuta camp which is home to over 200 displaced people, has only four toilets and four bathrooms for them to use.

A camp official who spoke anonymously because he did not have authority to speak to the media, expressed surprise that the toilets were filled up saying that he was never informed and added that he would inform the official to let them do something about it.

Taking a tour around the Kuta Camp, the Reporter noticed defecation around the camp which is an evidence of open defecation, also the refuse was at the back of one of the blocks of classrooms which made the occupants of the rooms facing the refuse to be susceptible to airborne diseases.

Relatedly, the IDP camp in Gwada was neater than that in Kuta especially in the area of hygiene as they have 10 toilets erected by the school and additional eight built for them by an NGO alongside bathrooms which one of the leaders of the camp said was more than enough for them. There was no dirt around the camp, their refuse was placed outside the camp and no sight of fresh or dried defecation around the camp. The only thing that made the camp look a bit disorganised were the desks and chairs which were packed in the compound.

“We have adequate toilets and bathrooms available and we ensure that the people abide by the rules of using it. We defecate in the toilet because we are against open defecation,” Pada said.

Both camps have a water supply as the Kuta camp has both a well and borehole while the Gwada camp has two boreholes. This may not be sufficient for a large number of people but the IDPs claim it is sufficient to meet their needs.

There were, however, no handwashing stations around the two camps to encourage frequent washing of hands as encouraged as one of the COVID-19 preventive measures.

Adherence to COVID-19 Protocols

Some of the simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a facemask, keeping rooms well ventilated and avoiding crowds seem to be far from what the IDPs can achieve.

In both camps in Kuta and Gwada local government area of Niger state, the IDPs sleep and live in the classrooms with not less than 10 adults in a room which also has the children of the adults. The reporter observed that the COVID-19 protocols were not being adhered to despite claims by Pada, Ramatu and other IDPs that they observed the protocols.

In Kuta IDP camp, Hauwa Zakari disclosed that her room has 25 people including women and their children.

Ramatu Abdullahi claimed that they sleep one meter apart at night and even at that, they try not to be too close together saying, “We observe COVID-19 protocols. We are aware of it and we observe it. We also observe physical and social distance even in our room and everywhere we gather. When we pray, we also distance ourselves.”

Hauwa said that the government provided them with disposable face masks at the advert of the COVID-19 but they no longer use it because the face masks are no longer usable as it was meant to be worn only once.

For the children who were being taught by a volunteer from the community who took it upon himself to take the children on some lessons in order not to allow them to be idle, there was no physical distancing in the sitting arrangements as directed by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC). Some were seated four per desk as against two.

Lado Pada, one of the camp leaders in Gwada Camp, said that the government had sensitised them about the COVID-19 protocols and also given them face masks and instructional materials.

He, however, said it was difficult to maintain physical distance in the rooms with between 16 to 35 adults.  He added that “At night, we have to close the windows because of mosquitoes, so no cross ventilation. Our spacing when we sleep is not up to one meter apart.”

Nobody in either camp wore face masks when the reporter visited.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are certain places where COVID-19 can spread more easily and they include crowded places with many people nearby, close-contact settings and confined and enclosed spaces with poor ventilation which is an indication of the classrooms in the IDP camps where the displaced persons sleep.

WHO explains that the risk of getting COVID-19 is higher in places where these factors overlap.

IDPs and Pupils Struggle for Space in Gwada Camp

In Gwada camp, the reporter noticed three sets of children – displaced and regular pupils – being taught under trees. Some of them were sitting on chairs while others were standing due to a lack of seats.

The IDPs during the school period refrain from bathing, cooking or cleaning the environment in order not to disrupt or distract the children from their learning.

Some of them who spoke to The Nation said that they had to endure this because the government did not make adequate arrangements for the pupils to be in another school, neither were they relocated to another location to camp.

“We are not happy that we are displacing children from their classes, but the government is yet to make an alternative arrangement for us. The children had to resume school and since we have occupied the classes, they have no choice but to move their chairs outside to continue learning,” Pada said.

Pada who said 425 persons are living in the camp, including children occupying the 24 classrooms, suggested that the government relocate them to create a conducive atmosphere for the pupils to learn.

Anna Musa complained that “we have to rush to take our bath and cook before the children resume. We cannot be tying a towel or wrapper when the children are here and say that we are going to take our bath. It does not look good. We feel disturbed seeing these children who should be enjoying inside the classes sitting in  the sun to take their lessons.”

Some of the pupils said they did not mind staying outside to learn if it meant giving the IDPs a place to stay.

“My mother told me what happened to them in their villages. It is not good. They are not happy. I am not getting what I used to,  because we stay under the tree and the sun disturbs us sometimes. But if it is to help them, no problem,” 10-year-old Hassan Mohammed who is in Primary four, said.

However, the case was different at the Dr Idris Ibrahim Primary School camp in Kuta, where some classroom blocks are occupied by the IDPs. The students have been moved to other blocks of classrooms leaving the classrooms for the IDP to live in.

Address the insecurity to enable us return home, IDPs urges govt

The IDPs are eager to return home. They call on the State government to address the insecurity bedevilling their communities to enable them to return home and continue their lives.

The IDPs said they have to work to cater for themselves as government interventions are insufficient. And due to this and reduced donations from individuals because of the COVID-19, the men have to go out daily to look for menial work to provide for their families.

The women also go to look for or help in the market, by carrying loads for people in the market or help attract customers to traders, to earn income to help meet their family needs. They are sometimes paid with foodstuffs which they cook to feed their families.

Hauwa Zakari in Kuta camp appeals to the State government to make the necessary arrangement to enable them return home, “These bandits have burnt our houses. Our crops are getting rotten and we cannot harvest them. Please let the government solve these security problems. We are not happy here. Imagine living and sleeping this way for almost a year.”

Pada of Gwada camp said if the government cannot return them to their villages, they should be relocated to a new settlement so that the children can continue their schooling uninterrupted. “This is a place of learning and not a place of living. This condition we find ourselves is not palatable.”

Shiroro residents blame continuous stay of IDPs in camps as failure of government

Residents of Kuta and Gwada communities said that the continuous stay of the IDPs in the camps has further revealed the government’s failure.

Sani Abubakar Kokki, the Co-Convener Concerned Shiroro Youths, said the government ought to have provided security to the citizenry, adding that, the situation where there are so many IDPs in the state reveals a gross negation and abdication of the government of its activities.

He said the lack of basic amenities in the camps makes the living condition of the IDPs pitiable. He said: “The camps are not ordinarily habitable for human beings; these people should not be living in these classrooms for this long.”

He stated that the situation in Gwada camp is sad because sharing classes with school children will negatively affect learning because the environment is no longer conducive for effective teaching and learning.

Kokki, who has been to the camp several times with his group to take note of the conditions of the IDPs, noted that there is gross non-adherence to the COVID-19 protocols, “due to the non-adherence to COVID-19 protocols as directed by relevant agencies, there is every possibility that the IDPs are vulnerable to the killer disease especially with this second wave that is gradually gaining momentum.”

Government’s response

Efforts made to get the response of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) regarding the situation of the IDPs in the camp were not possible as the Director-General of NSEMA, Alhaji Ibrahim Inga, was not available to answer the questions.

However, the Chairman of the Niger state Taskforce on COVID-19, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, explained that regarding prevention of COVID-19 in the IDP camps, the state Ministry of Health will take samples from the residents of the camps for testing to ensure that none will pose the danger of transferring the virus to others in the camp.

“The Ministry of Health is ready to take samples of the IDPs. for this period, we want to focus on the vulnerable people in vulnerable areas where these IDPs fall and subject them to testing so that we will be able to isolate those who are infected.”

Matane, who is also the Secretary to the Niger State Government (SSG), said the isolation centres are ready to take up all cases for as many that needs to be isolated and the government would do its best to ensure that COVID-19 is not spread in these IDP camps.

We are trying our best, says Shiroro local govt chairman

The Chairman of Shiroro Local Government Area, Suleiman Dauda Chukuba, who responded to questions by The Nation regarding the state of the camps in his area, explained that the local government is doing its best to provide a place for the displaced people to stay where they would be protected from the attacks of the bandits.

Chukuba, who lamented that the attacks by the armed bandits are increasing in the council, said that very soon, the camps will be overcrowded as the number of IDPs would increase as the attacks increase.

“It is like the armed bandits are increasing and as they are increasing, more people will be displaced and the camps would be overwhelmed. This is not something that we are prepared for. We have a lot of IDPs, some we don’t even know.

“In a day, sometimes we have up to 10 to 20 attacks and the council will be confused especially with the large number of people who troop into the LG headquarters. Our responsibility is that no matter how inconvenient the camps would be, let the displaced persons just have a place for them to stay. With time, we will see what we can do.

“But we are doing our best despite all odds. In Kuta, the pupils are in the uprising while the IDPs are staying in another building. In Gwada we wanted to do it that way, we want the IDPs to move to the Junior Secondary School while the JSS will shift to the primary school but the accommodation of the school classes were few that couldn’t accommodate the IDPs. We don’t expect them to be sleeping outside, that is why we put them there. We are doing our best.”

He, however, refused to speak about the non-adherence and non-compliance of COVID-19 safety protocols in the camps.

• This report was supported by the Africa Women Journalism Project (AWJP) in partnership with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ).