Begging as source of income for insurgency victims?

The Boko Haram insurgency resulted in the attack on mostly government establishments, security operatives, places of worship, markets and some media establishments have accounted for countless deaths and injuries to Nigerians and destruction of property worth millions of naira. The government’s declaration of a state emergency at the beginning of 2012 which was extended the […]

The Boko Haram insurgency resulted in the attack on mostly government establishments, security operatives, places of worship, markets and some media establishments have accounted for countless deaths and injuries to Nigerians and destruction of property worth millions of naira.

The government’s declaration of a state emergency at the beginning of 2012 which was extended the following year to cover the entire northeast of Nigeria saw an increase in alleged rights abuses and militant attacks leading to the displacement of many Nigerians from their ancestral domains to Cameroon, Chad or Niger Republic.

Since the beginning of the insurgency, many people have fled their various towns and villages and many lives have been lost, many houses burnt, property, businesses have been lost.

Thousands of people settled in various villages and cities other than theirs while others were sent to refugee camps as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).  As result, many people no longer have any means of income except to wait for assistance from aid groups.

Many people hide under the guise of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in recognized camp and continue wandering in towns, telling people they have no food to eat, their families are sick and were referred to hospitals, and many more complaints depending on their experiences. They roam in towns throughout the day in either ATM points, mosques, churches, motor parks or schools, looking for money or other forms of assistance.

Difference people such as children, teenagers and adults engage in the act as a means of livelihood.   Amazingly, when a person lays his/her complaints on this street, you would later see him/her on the next street the next day.

Findings have shown that some of the females among them engage in prostitution as a result of starvation and other problems.

According to a lecturer at the Department of Health Education, University of Maiduguri, Professor Buba Mshelia, the government is doing its best but should intensify effort on provision of rehabilitation centres, compensate victims on lost property, provide free education for orphans and create employment for the populace.

It’s hoped that the government will do its utmost best in order to end this disturbing phenomenon.

Racheal Baba Waziri & Shirley Uwakwe are students in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri.