A day with Yobe’s displaced persons

Musa Adamu, from Fulatari community in Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State, was hungry. He had not eaten anything for days and after two more days of constantly asking for food and waiting for it to arrive, he succumbed to death on the 27th of June, 2024. “He kept asking for food to eat […]

Musa Adamu, from Fulatari community in Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State, was hungry. He had not eaten anything for days and after two more days of constantly asking for food and waiting for it to arrive, he succumbed to death on the 27th of June, 2024.

“He kept asking for food to eat and died six hours after the last time he asked for food,” his first son, Umaru Sanda told Weekend Trust. He said there was no food or money to buy food for his father, regretting the fact that he was not able to keep the elderly man alive.

The wife of the deceased man, Aishatu Adamu, was camped in their hut when our reporter visited. She was not allowed to go out as she was still observing some religious rights following the demise of her husband.

Adamu was an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) at the informal settlement in Abujan Mai Mala, Damaturu, Yobe State. He, alongside others who were displaced from their ancestral homes in Borno State, had settled there since 2021. From then to May 2024, the number of IDPs had increased from 15 households (50 individuals) to 175 households (795 individuals). Most of the IDPs originated from areas in Borno State like Gubio, Kaga, Kalabalge, Dambua and Kukawa.

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All the makeshift shelters were constructed by the IDPs themselves as the government of Yobe State does not recognise any IDPs camp in the state. This informal IDP settlement is located on private individual lands, including residential plots and farmlands. Humanitarian partners are not able to construct additional sanitation facilities without the approval of private land owners. Access to land for farming and livelihood opportunities for the IDPs is one of the main challenges. As such, most of the IDPs depend on humanitarian assistance from the state government and humanitarian partners.

Speaking about the hunger situation in the camp, the Bulama of the settlement, 89-year-old Isah Baushe, told Weekend Trust that: “Because of hunger, someone died here recently.”

The deceased’s son, Umaru, said it was difficult providing for his father, explaining that he was also having difficulties providing food for himself, his wife and his five children.

“When he was asking for food, there was nothing we could do. We do not have food, we don’t have money to buy food and we can’t even go to the hospital because we don’t have the money for the bills,” the 45-year-old said.

Umaru is not the only child of the deceased, he has two brothers – a gateman in Damaturu and the other, a herder, looking after his employer’s cattle – but none of them was buoyant enough to support their father when he was alive.

They barely escaped death some four years ago when they were attacked in their community by the insurgents. “We were doing fine, had a lot of cattle but before our displacement, all of our cattle were rustled. After the attack, we spent 30 days trekking before we arrived here,” he said, explaining that they could only move at night because of the activities of Boko Haram in the daytime.

 

They eat leaves

Under a huge tree in the camp, women and children were seen preparing a meal, the only meal available to them, they hinted. It is called “Tapasa”. Few other people were preparing “Yahia”. A woman who gave her name as Safiya said the leaves are from wild plants and are available around the camp.

“It is not planted, it grows on its own and that is what we eat,” she said. To prepare the meal is simple; they steam the leaves after picking them from the stems, add salt and the meal is ready. She said 

another option for them is the Moringa leave. “We will steam it, add pepper and oil if we can find but if there is no oil, we will add only pepper and eat,” Safiya said.

They don’t eat for satisfaction; they only eat to stay alive. Safiya told Weekend Trust that they eat once a day most times while some days, they stay hungry all through. Looking at the children, a layman could conclude that they are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Though, humanitarian agencies have warned that the meal makes some people feverish after eating it, advising those who get sick after eating to refrain from it. But they keep eating it, Weekend Trust gathered.

The Bulama said they used to go to far places to farm the major stable foods in the North, including maize and millet, but were stopped by the security agencies this year owing to insecurity.

“The security agencies asked us not to plant crops that grow tall like maize, millet and guinea corn. Our major food items are maize, guinea corn and millet and if we are not allowed to plant them, there is no need to go to the farm,” the Bulama said.

There are a few available jobs. The IDPs said they go out daily looking for farms they can work on. Usman Hassan, an IDP in the camp and a father of nine children said: “We look for farms to work on and the owners pay us but we don’t get lucky every day. Sometimes, for a whole week, nobody will call us to come and work on their farms. In the dry season, we go to the bush to fetch firewood to sell. We trek sometimes for six kilometres to get firewood, but it’s a security risk for us.”

He sells his firewood for between N2,000 and N3,000, but it is too little to cater to the needs of his large family.

Firdausi Nana of INTERSOS – the agency that coordinates and manages the informal camp—said the major challenge of the IDPs is food, saying, “They do not work; no capital, no skills, no means of livelihood”. She also noted that the camp lacks any infrastructure except for a borehole provided by an NGO, Action Against Hunger (ACF).

Besides, the IDP settlement is threatened by land owners’ decision to develop their properties. Weekend Trust observed that the settlement is now scattered as many newly built structures are shrinking the camp.

Also, the IDPs – predominantly farmers-do not have the land to farm. “Only a few have small pieces of land for farming,” said Firdausi.

The Bulama of the settlement said the camp recently received 380 households who just joined after the insurgents burnt down their villages and left them with nothing.

The Bulama, who spoke through an interpreter, said: “Our basic challenges here are shelter and food. When it rains, we have nowhere to go, we are all exposed including the children. Unfortunately, young children constitute close to 70 per cent of the population of the IDPs in the camp.

The Yobe State government would not recognise any IDP camp. Its emphasis is on returning the displaced persons to their ancestral homes and providing them with durable solutions to restart their lives. However, the situation back home has not improved.

Baushe said the situation was getting worse back home, saying “Those who left the camp and went back home are still facing attacks while some of them have been killed.

The situation in a small IDP site in Murfa Kalam community (18 KM off Damaturu/Potiskum road) is not different. Weekend Trust gathered that the total number of new arrivals to the camp is 651 households (5,257 individuals), of whom 525 households (4,453 individuals) were displaced from Katarko in Gujba LGA and 126 households (783 individuals) displaced from Damaturu LGA – in Kaseisa and Murfa Kala communities.

Speaking with Weekend Trust, a young man who simply gave his name as Bashir Saleh from Albaram, Borno State, said they escaped insurgents’ attacks and moved to Bama and then Gujba, because they couldn’t get farmlands in Bama. In Gujba, they were settled and were farming before being chased out of the community by non-state actors again.

But at Murfa Kalam community, the host community was receptive. However, they were made to pay for farmlands. “We were asked to pay N7,000 for a hectare of land for farming. So, we have to work on their farms to make money to pay for land for farming,” he said.

The IDPs, majority of which are children, also lamented the lack of food. They all looked malnourished. Saleh, a Kanuri man, who spoke through an interpreter, said they now eat “Tambilla”.

The food doesn’t need to be cooked, but must be washed several times before consumption. “We wash it for five days before it becomes edible because it is very bitter,” he said.

 The food which looks like beans is picked from the bush, it was gathered. Saleh said it is the only available meal for them, for now. He called for government’s intervention as they await the maturity of their crops.

Wakil Jalomi, who spoke on behalf of the chief of Murfa Kalam community, Iyagama Lamidu, said the displaced persons were allowed to settle in the community because they are peaceful people, promising that the community will provide a conducive environment for them to thrive.

The IDPs in Katarko are not that fortunate, they live under trees and by the roadside. The host community is not comfortable accommodating them, saying they may attract reprisal attacks by the suspected Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) operatives.

In some IDP settlements in Potiskum visited by Weekend Trust, children who were initially drawn to school with the introduction of a school feeding programme, are dropping out of school to work on farms to support their parents. Maryam Salisu, a 13-year-old primary 4 pupil is one of many pupils who have dropped out. She works on the farm from 6am to 6pm only to earn between N1,000 and N1,500 daily.

Adamu Mohammed Lawan, the head teacher of Kachalla-Bauya Primary School, one of the primary schools in 

Potiskum, complained that students drop out of school during the rainy season to work on the farms to earn for their families. He asked for the government’s intervention in attracting the children back to school while providing durable solutions to the plight of the displaced people.

Like other BAY (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe) states, there is fatigue already in the humanitarian community and humanitarian assistance continues to decline.

Besides, the fact that the cost of living in Nigeria has risen in the past 14 months beyond the reach of the middle class makes it even more difficult for the IDPs to cope.

Hence, there are gaps in child protection response activities, limited sources of livelihood opportunities, including access to farmland as most of the IDPs were farmers in their areas of origin.

 

The figures

Approximately 1.8 million people are in need in Yobe State, according to the 2024 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), which exhibits the highest multidimensional poverty index (MPI), 83.5 per cent, suggesting severe multi-sectoral issues, including food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, nutrition, and education services.

IDPs, especially the new arrivals; returnee households in high-risk security areas and urban poor communities hosting displaced persons continue to be the most vulnerable people requiring lifesaving support.

An estimated 1.5 million people in Yobe are expected to be in food insecurity and nutrition crisis during the lean season in 2024, according to the 2024 HNO.

The HNO said $220 million is needed by humanitarian organisations to meet the state’s requirements, with 47 per cent of the need being food security, followed by nutrition and health sectors.

The high levels of acute malnutrition have persisted for the sixth consecutive year, aggravated by acute food insecurity with a widening food consumption gap.

The number of severely malnourished children with and without medical complications admitted to health facilities from January to March 2024 increased by 56 per cent compared to the same period last year (2023).

Global Acute malnutrition (GAM) rate has ranged from 8-14.1 over the past six years based on North-east Nigeria Nutrition and Food Security Surveillance (2016 -2023) but the prevalence of acute malnutrition in Yobe State follows a seasonal trend, peaking during the lean season (May – September).

According to the 2023 Lean Season Nutrition & Food Security Surveillance (NFSS) conducted across Yobe State, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) among children under 5 years old is 8 per cent. 

 

Yobe govt’s response

Yobe State government has significantly integrated the services for the management of acute malnutrition into routine primary health care services and currently fully manages 202 (64 per cent) of the 314 health facilities treating acute malnutrition across the state with a trained health workforce and established infrastructure.

As of May 2024, the state government in collaboration with Nutrition Sector partners (UNICEF, WFP, WHO, FAO, and NGOs) had reached 260,000 vulnerable children and women with preventive and curative nutrition assistance.

This includes 60,000 severely malnourished children aged 0-59 months who were treated in stabilisation centres (SC) and outpatient therapeutic programme (OTP) sites, 99,000 moderately malnourished children aged 6-59 months who were treated in Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP) sites with ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) or Tom Brown, 90,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls who were reached with skilled maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) counselling and hygiene messages.

Speaking with Weekend Trust via Zoom in Damaturu, Yobe State Commissioner of Information, Abdullahi Bego, acknowledged that the displaced people were overstretching facilities in the host communities, indicating that the government has been improving infrastructures to meet the current demands.

Bego said the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) was one of the most effective in the country, adding that “SEMA has the record of many who have been affected and we are addressing them.”

“We are not saying we are able to solve all the problems but we are willing and working towards resolving their issues,” he said, disclosing that five per cent of the state’s annual budget is dedicated to the IDPs.

Speaking specifically about hunger in the IDP settlements, the commissioner said even without the insurgency, there was food insecurity in the country.

While noting that the federal government was working to address the situation by sending foodstuff to the states, he added that the state government is also doing its part to cushion the impact of food insecurity on the people.

“Yobe is providing food support to people in the state, especially the vulnerable ones. The Yobe State government can’t handle it alone. We are seeking support from our partners,” he said.

To secure the farms, he said the state government recently distributed some vehicles to security agencies in the state to support their activities, especially in the protection of farmers.

He said the government was also working with community leaders, associations and people who influence the communities to cater to the needs of the displaced persons who reside amongst them.

The state official said notwithstanding these temporary interventions, the target is to provide the vulnerable population with lasting solutions.