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Empower Women in Media Cohort

Left to Suffer: The Heartbreaking Story of Displaced Widows in North East Nigeria 

It was a rainy Sunday morning when this reporter visited El-Miskin camp housing hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the sprawling city of Maiduguri, capital of Borno State. Many of the residents in the camp fled their various communities as a result of the Boko Haram conflict in the northeastern region of Nigeria.

The insurgents have been one of the deadliest terror groups in the world since 2009 as they control vast territories in the region. They have caused the death of almost 350,000 people as of 2020, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

While the African Union (AU) has repeatedly authorised the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to combat the terrorists, the insurgent group remains a threat in the Lake Chad area of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. 

The IDPs in El-Miskin camp have not only endured dire conditions in the past years, but they have also felt neglected by the government and the rest of the world. When our reporter moved closer to a group of women, they narrated tales of horror and their suffering as widows in the IDP camp.

Kori Habu, a 50-year-old mother of five, told Campus Reporter that she fled from the Kunduga area to Maiduguri in 2013 after Boko Haram insurgents killed her husband. 

“My husband was killed 11 years ago by the Boko Haram insurgents at Kunduga local government area. It was a night attack around 7:30 p. m. and he was unfortunately outside. After they left, I found out that he was among the victims killed,” she said in a sorrowful tone. 

Kori Habu, a widow and victim of the Boko Haram insurgency, standing in front of her tent. Photo credit – Rukaiyatu Idris

Following the death of her husband, Kori fled the attacked community alongside her children. Though their early days in the camp were quite easy because she had the opportunity to work as a labourer on people’s farms and also cut firewood for sale, things have become difficult as a result of the current economic situation in the country.

One of her children, Abdullahi, 16, has the ambition to be a university graduate but he is faced with overwhelming odds.

“I have always liked to be in school and that’s why I am working hard to retain myself despite difficulties. I am supposed to be in Junior Secondary School (JSS 3), but I stopped going to school last year due to finances,” he told Campus Reporter. “All the money I get from the farm work is to support my mother and siblings.”

Despite working hard to support his family, they still go hungry for several days without food. “I am only hopeful that when things become normal, I will continue with my education,” Abdullahi noted.

Hunger 

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the conflict situation in the northeastern region of Nigeria is rampant and has left over four million people food insecure in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States. Among these, about three million people are in Borno, the heart of the insurgency.  

Jummai Habu, another widow in El-Miskin camp said she is always unhappy to see her children go out to beg for food on the streets daily since her husband was killed by insurgents in 2015. 

Jummai Buba seated in her tent at the camp. Photo credit – Rukaiyatu Idris

“I have to watch all my eight children go out to beg. Unfortunately, they hardly come back home with food these days due to economic difficulties in the country. Life is hard for everybody. So, they always come back home tired and frustrated by hunger,” she said.

“Today, I had to borrow 500 naira from a shop owner in the neighborhood to buy flour and I will have to mix it with hot water and potash so they can take it. Things are hard for us. We sometimes eat raw leaves.”

A container filled with the raw Tapasa leaves. Photo credit – Rukaiyatu Idris

Speaking with Campus Reporter, Dada Usman, said she hardly gets firewood to sell from the bush and it is having effects on her children’s survival.

“One of my daughters has been very sick for the past seven months. I couldn’t go out because I am looking after her. Last week, she fainted. It was people from the camp who contributed money and took her to the hospital, my hands are tight because of her sickness,” she lamented. “My 15-year-old boy is the only one who’s working to provide for us, and things are way more than his income.”

Similarly, Habiba Magaji, a widow in her early 80s, explained that she relocated to the camp after her husband was killed alongside two children in the Baga area of Borno.

Camp leader reacts

Mohammad Hashir, one of the leaders in the camp also acknowledged that the widows in Elthere areMiskin camp are faced with many challenges. 

“Life is difficult for all of us at this camp, but the situation of the widows is more challenging than any of us, because it’s not easy to keep a home alone with the current economic situation of this country. There are numerous instances where we would have to contribute especially during sickness to support such families. We have over 100 of such women over here,” Hashir told Campus Reporter.

He, however, urged the Borno State Government to look into the plights of widows in the camp. 

Signpost at the entrance of El-Miskin Camp. Photo credit – Rukaiyatu Idris

Also, Mohammad Alhaji of Cohort for Existential Emergency Relief (CEER), added that widows in the IDP camp are in dire need, as they continue to face an immense struggle to care for their children with little to no financial support. 

“The camp is overcrowded and there’s no economic opportunities, making their situation even more difficult. These women also deal with societal stigma, particularly those who were once part of Boko Haram-controlled areas and have lost their husbands in the cause,” Mohammed explained.

While he applauds the government for its plan to resettle all IDPs, Mohammed advocates for the creation of sustainable livelihood programs, the establishment of centers for psychosocial social support to improve the living conditions of the displaced, and policies that will protect the lives of the widows.

This story was funded by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) through its Empower Women in Media Cohort project.

 

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