The impact of corruption on internally displaced persons in North-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria, a self-acclaimed most populous country of black people in Africa is not only a heterogeneous nation with not less than 300 ethnic groups and over 500 spoken languages, bin a developing country plagued with numerous challenges. The country, in over a decade now has witnessed rise in terrorism and insurgency activities by a group known as "Boko Haram' and of recent, a "splinter” group of armed herdsmen whose activities have displaced millions of Nigerians and rendered them homeless. The geo-political entity called the Federal Republic of Nigeria is divided into six geo- political zones, but the worst-hit by the activities of the insurgents is the North Eastern Zone of the country, comprising of the following States: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) according to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, are "persons or group of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflicts, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border. As citizens of Nigeria, IDPs also deserve and entitle to constitutionally recognized rights as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). However, in spite of 'no choice’ Situation the IDPs found themselves, majority of them prefer to return back to where they were displaced front, even when the Situation they fled front still persists, or cross the border of Nigeria to any other country as refugees rat her than their continued stay at their designated camps. The aforesaid is presumably borne out of challenges such as insecurity, hunger and humanitarian crisis as a whole. This work seeks to probe into the effect of corruption and corrupt practices on the plight of the IDPs in the North-Eastern Nigeria, and its attendant consequences on Nigeria and its neighbouring countries, such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic.