




































American International Journal of Social Science Research; Vol. 2, No. 1; 2018 

ISSN 2576-103X  E-ISSN 2576-1048 

Published by Centre for Research on Islamic Banking & Finance and Business 

 
 

28 

 

 

Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria: Review of Empirical 

Studies 

Emmanuel Okokondem Okon
1 

 

1
Department of Economics,  Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria 

Correspondence: Department of Economics, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria, E-mail: 

tonydom57@yahoo.com. Tel: +2348023275716  

 

Received:  January 9, 2018                        Accepted: January 12, 2018                 Online Published: January 16, 2018   

 

 

Abstract 

The purpose of this paper is to review empirical studies on the issue of internally displaced persons in Nigeria. The 

aim is to document the different ways and methods in which researchers have approached this phenomenon in the 

past and to identify gaps. Thus lessons drawn will help in the effort ofcurbing the menace of this phenomenon.The 

paper started by giving a literature on the current global trend of displacement followed by the current situation of 

displacement in Nigeria. Thereafter, a general search was conducted in different online database sources such as 

Google Scholars, mamma.com, Springer Link, Wiley, Askme.com,Science Direct, JSTOR, Emerald full text, 

Scopus, and EBSCO HOST, etc., to find out studies that have been carried on internally displaced persons in 

Nigeria.The empirical literature review shows that studies conducted in Nigeria on internally displacement covered 

among others issues such: causes and factors which induce internal displacement, internal intervention for IDPs, 

Psychosocial challenges of IDPs, provision of education for IDPs,inclusive electoral process for IDPs in Nigeria. 

However, no study has been conducted to analyze how the arrival of displaced individuals affects the provision of 

public goods of local residents. This unexplored impact may have important implications for the welfare of 

receiving locations given the large magnitude of displacement experienced in some parts of Nigeria.Studies have 

also not been conducted to examine how those displaced are affected in terms of employment and welfare losses. 

Most importantly, research should be geared towards mitigating this phenomenon. 

 

Keywords: Internally Displaced Persons, Nigeria, Empirical Studies 

 

1. Introduction 

According to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, IDPs are “persons or groups 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 conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural 

or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border” (OCHA, n.d.). 

There were 59.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2014, the highest level since World War 

II: 19.5 million were refugees, 1.8 million asylum seekers and 38.2 million internally displaced persons, according 

to UNHCR (2015). 

Internal displacement in Nigeria is a recurring and large-scale phenomenon and has affected most of the country’s 

36 states. Africa’s largest populated country has seen many waves of displacement, both small and large scale, 

caused essentially by conflict, generalized violence, natural disasters and human rights violations (Nigeriabar, 2015). 

It is against this background that this paper seeks to review existing empirical research on the issues raised by the 

presence of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nigeria. The lessons drawn will help in overcoming the challenges 

of displacement in Nigeria.  

The subsequent two sections correspond to literature pertaining to the global trend of displacement (section 2), and 

reports on internally displaced persons in Nigeria (section 3). Section presents the methodology of the study as well 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugee#Asylum_seekers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internally_displaced_persons


 

 
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as the empirical review result. Section 4 highlights the limitations of the existing literature and suggest a range of 

areas for further research.Section 5 concludes. 

2. Global Trend 

War, violence and persecution left one in every 122 humans on the planet a refugee, internally displaced or seeking 

asylum at the end of 2014, according to a stark UN report that warns the world is failing the victims of an “age of 

unprecedented mass displacement”. The annual global trends study by the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, finds that 

the level of worldwide displacement is higher than ever before, with a record 59.5 million people living exiled from 

their homes at the end of 2014 (Theguardian, 2016). 

UNHCR estimates that an average of 42,500 men, women and children became refugees, asylum seekers or 

internally displaced people every day last in 2014 - a four-fold increase in just four years. By the end of 2014, there 

were 19.5 million refugees – more than half of them children – 38.2 million internally displaced people and 1.8 

million asylum-seekers (Theguardian, 2016).Were the 59.5 million to be counted as the population of a single 

country, it would be the 24th largest in the world and one with about the same number of people as Italy. 

 

 
 

Figure 1: 21
st
 Century Displacement 

Source: UNHCR 

 

The numbers are up 16% in 2013 – when the total stood at 51.2 million – and up 59% on a decade ago, when 37.5 

million people were forced to flee their homes. 

UNHCR says the four-year war in Syria is the single largest driver of displacement: by the end of 2014, the conflict 

had forced 3.88 million Syrians to live as refugees in the Middle East and beyond, and left 7.6 million more 

internally displaced. In blunter terms, one in every five displaced persons worldwide last year was Syrian. 

The report also notes that the wealthy countries are relying overwhelmingly on poorer states to take in those who 

have been forced to abandon their homelands: in 2014, 86% of refugees were in regions or countries deemed 

economically less developed.Twenty years ago, developing regions hosted about 70% of the world’s refugees; last 

year, countries ranked least developed by the UN were home to 3.6 million refugees – or 25% of the global total. 

At the end of 2014, 53% of all refugees under UNHCR’s responsibility came from just three countries: Syria (3.88 

million), Afghanistan (2.59 million), and Somalia(1.11 million). A further 5.1 million refugees were registered by 

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. 

http://unhcr.org/556725e69.html
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
http://www.theguardian.com/world/refugees
http://www.theguardian.com/world/italy
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/18/59m-people-displaced-war-violence-persecution-says-un#img-2
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/18/59m-people-displaced-war-violence-persecution-says-un#img-2
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/18/59m-people-displaced-war-violence-persecution-says-un#img-2
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/18/59m-people-displaced-war-violence-persecution-says-un#img-2
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/18/59m-people-displaced-war-violence-persecution-says-un#img-2
http://www.theguardian.com/world/syria
http://www.theguardian.com/world/afghanistan
http://www.theguardian.com/world/somalia


 

 
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Figure 2: Conflict displacement Photograph: UNHCR/Guardian 

Source: UNHCR 

 

In Iraq, the march of Islamic State saw the number of internally displaced people jump from 1 million to in 2013 to 

3.6 million by the end of last year. In Libya, 309,000 people were newly displaced in 2014 (Theguardian, 2016). 

Over the past five years, at least 15 conflicts have broken out or reignited: eight in Africa (Ivory Coast, Central 

African Republic, Libya, Mali, northeastern Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudanand Burundi); 

three in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, and Yemen); one in Europe (Ukraine) and three in Asia (Kyrgyzstan, and in 

several areas ofBurma and Pakistan). 

There were 19.2 million new displacements associated with disasters in 113 countries across all regions of the world 

in 2015, brought on by events such as floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, landslides and 

extreme temperatures (GRID, 2016). Disasters triggered by natural hazards caused twice as many new 

displacements in 2015 as conflict and violence. Over the past eight years, there have been 203.4 million 

displacements by disasters, a figure comparable to the entire population of Brazil (GRID, 2016). The 2015 figure is 

lower than the average recorded since 2008 of 25.4 million displacements per year, but similar to the reported global 

totals for the previous year (see figure 3). The scale and frequency of large-scale disasters account for much of the 

variance in the total figures from year to year. Such events are less predictable because they are brought on by the 

most extreme hazards. As in 2014 and 2009, there were no mega-events (defined here as more than three million 

displacements) in 2015. 

 

 
Figure 3: New Displacements Associated with Disasters by Scale of Events, 2008 to 2015 

Source: GRID (2016) 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/iraq
http://www.theguardian.com/world/isis
http://www.theguardian.com/world/africa
http://www.theguardian.com/world/ivory-coast
http://www.theguardian.com/world/central-african-republic
http://www.theguardian.com/world/central-african-republic
http://www.theguardian.com/world/libya
http://www.theguardian.com/world/mali
http://www.theguardian.com/world/nigeria
http://www.theguardian.com/world/congo
http://www.theguardian.com/world/south-sudan
http://www.theguardian.com/world/burundi
http://www.theguardian.com/world/yemen
http://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine
http://www.theguardian.com/world/kyrgyzstan
http://www.theguardian.com/world/burma
http://www.theguardian.com/world/pakistan


 

 
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3. Nigeria 

Nigeria has 3.3 million persons displaced by conflict – the highest number in Africa.  This information is contained 

in a report ‘Global Overview 2014: people internally displaced by conflict and violence’ released by the Internal 

Displaced Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) (naij.com, n.d.). 

 

 
Figure 4: There were 12.5 million IDPs in the 21 sub-Saharan countries. Credit: Global Overview 2014 

Source:naij.com (n.d.). 
 
According to the report, there are 3.3 million IDPs in Nigeria and 470,500 individuals were displaced in 2013 alone 

(naij.com, n.d.). On a global scale, Nigeria is only ranked behind Syria with 6.5 million IDPs and Colombia with 5.7 

million IDPs (naij.com, n.d.).The report explains the unprecedented rise in IDPs in Nigeria last year by the increased 

number of Boko Haram attacks, heavy-handed counter insurgency operations, and ongoing inter-communal 

violence. After Boko Haram insurgents were pushed out of major towns in the north-east following the declaration 

of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states in May 2013, they focused their attacks with increased 

brutality on towns and villages close to Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Niger and Chad. 

 
Figure 5: Smoke rises after a bomb blast at a bus terminal in Jos, Nigeria, Tuesday, May 20, 2014. The blasts could 

be heard miles away and clouds of black smoke rose above the city as firefighters and rescue workers struggled to 

reach the area as thousands of people fled. 

Source: nydailynews (2014) 

 

The increasing deadly attacks on border communities and the destruction of properties, businesses and farmlands 

forced many inhabitants to flee to nearby towns and villages as well as into neighbouring Cameroon and Niger. In 

2014, the Islamist sect killed about 2,000 people and more than half of those killed were civilians. According to the 

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA), 300,000 people in Borno, Adamawa and 

Yobe – 70 percent of them women and children –  fled their homes since early 2013(naij.com, n.d.). In March, 

residents of Mafa village in Borno fled their homes after receiving letters from Boko Haram warning them of 



 

 
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impending attacks. When the attack eventually happened there were only the aged and those too weak to flee. 

Besides, reprisal attacks on communities accused of sheltering Boko Haram insurgents by the Nigerian armed forces 

had also added to the number of displaced people in the northeast, the report notes. 

Communal clash is another factor contributing to the high number of displaced persons in Nigeria. Clashes between 

farmers and herdsmen over grazing lands in states such as Benue, Taraba, Zamfara and parts of Kaduna left more 

than 1,000 people dead since December 2014, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. “The violence has been almost on 

a daily basis in some places like Benue State and in a few other places you’ve had it almost on a weekly basis,” said 

MausiSegun, HRW Nigerian Researcher. In April, NEMA set up 11 camps for over 100,000 people displaced in 

eight local governments in Benue State.  More than 300 people in the last 20 months were killed in attacks on 

villages in Zamfara State, the local government reported(naij.com, n.d.). 

Also, many of the victims of the 2012 flooding caused by heavy rainfall across Nigeria are yet to be provided 

permanent place of residence. According to NEMA,the natural disaster in that year 

alone displaced over two million people. 

4. Methodology of the Study  

This study adopted a content analysis of studies on internally displaced persons in Nigeria from the flow of existing 

literature.  A general search was conducted by the name ofinternally displaced persons in Nigeria in different online 

database sources such as Google Scholars, Springer Link, Wiley, Science Direct, JSTOR, Emerald full text, Scopus, 

and EBSCO HOST etc. From this search, a number of journal articles, conference and other types of work were 

found and studied to determine which articles were empirically good enough to be included in the review of this 

paper. The empirical studies  were broadly divided into two categories: internal studies on IDPs in Nigeria; 

and comparison with neighbouring countries. After reading thoroughly, the relevant empirical articles were collected 

and presented in a chronological order on the basis of objectives, methods and findings. 

4.1. Results of the Review 

 According to Ocheje  (1997) in his work titled “Legalizing Displacement”, he opined that as developments in 

Nigeria have demonstrated, law and the legal order can be manipulated in order to sustain the state and a section of 

the society at the expense of the general public. This process was imposed on the people of Nigeria under the guise 

of promoting development. Although development projects have been elaborately supported by the law, the effect 

on the welfare of the people has been largely negative. Rather than promoting progress, projects have led to the 

displacement of vast numbers of Nigerians from their familiar habitat. Law and the legal order have been used by 

the state to sustain itself at the expense of the people and therefore have had the effect of perpetuating injustice. As 

this situation makes clear, law can be an agent of both progress and retrogression, depending on whether the state is 

oriented towards protecting the people in general or in promoting the interests of a particular class. The Nigerian 

state has clearly had the latter objective in mind. 

Ibeeanu (1998)examined the causes and other factors which induce internal population displacement in Nigeria. It 

argues in opposition to traditional explanations that population displacement is a complex problem most often 

arising when the rights of a group are violated or denied; or when the physical security of members of the group is 

threatened. The nature of the state is a major causal factor inducing population displacement, especially where it is 

unable to ensure access for all its citizens or accord them adequate physical security.Ibeanu (2001) in his paper 

argued that the problem of population displacement in countries like Nigeria is not just to be understood as being of 

the state’s making, but, more fundamentally, as a problem of state-making. It questions the prevalent explanation of 

population displacement as a problem of state actions and wrong policy choices by state officials, arguing that such 

an explanation tends to be subjectivist, legalistic, and reifies the state. By so doing, this explanation pays inadequate 

attention to the determinant role of social forces in state-making and its consequences for population displacement. 

Olagunju (2006) examined the management of IDP’s (internally displaced persons) in Nigeria based on the 

February/May 2000 communal conflict at Kaduna, Northern Nigeria. He structured two sets of questionnaires. One 

was for IDPs. The other was for government agencies and NGOs. They were based on the United Nations 

Guidelines on Internal Displacement.The challenges faced by the IDP’s and by the various government agencies and 

NGOs involved in responding to the needs of the IDPs were assessed, documented, compared and analyzed. 

Recommendations for better responses to the management of IDP needs were given for the use of relevant 

governmental and NGO agencies. 

In the paper “Betting on Displacement: Oil, Violence, and the Switch to Civilian Rule in Nigeria”,Azam (2009) 

presented an analytic narrative of three decades of oil and violence inNigeria, assuming rational choice by all the 

actors. It argues that, in the 1980s and 1990s, thegovernment had to choose between spending money on preventing 

pollution and terrorizingthe population away from the Niger Delta states, where oil extraction is concentrated. 

Becauseof the uncertain outcome of out-migration, the latter solution seemed more efficient and wasimplemented by 

http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/search;jsessionid=eam40dgsj3h2l.x-brill-live-03?value1=&option1=all&value2=Paul+D.+Ocheje&option2=author


 

 
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the military governments. However, xenophobic responses by the populationin destination cities, where a lot of 

ethnic violence took place, proved out-migration to bemuch less attractive than expected. Niger Delta states’ 

populations ended up being trapped intheir polluted environment where “oil bunkering” and racketeering oil firms 

turned out to bethe only viable sources of income for many people. The implied dynamics of violence shedssome 

light on the switch to civilian rule that occurred in 1999. 

In 2009, Bamgbose  examined separately two different incidents of accidental bomb blast at Ikeja Cantonment, and 

ethnic conflict between the Yoruba and Hausa at Idi-Araba, Mushin in the suburb of Lagos. These incidents which 

took place at two different locations at Lagos in Nigeria were fundamental and painful because of the magnitude of 

displacements caused by these two incidents by rendering thousands of people homeless, sent hundreds to the grave 

beyond, destroyed many properties including buildings and besides, they called for government attention to give 

succour to the plight of the affected people. The paper further points out that forced/involuntary migration can be 

responsible for human displacement without people necessarily crossing international boundary. Also in 2009, 

Enwereji attempted to assess interventions offered by governmental authorities and organizations to internally 

displaced persons and to identify gaps in services as well as to identify what needs to be strengthened. The author 

reviewed relevant published and unpublished documents and collected data by interviews with semi-structured 

questions. Twenty-five organizations and government and police departments and 55 internally displaced persons 

were interviewed. The result showed that none of the organizations, including governmental institutions, provided 

social services or assistance in prevention of HIV/AIDS to internally displaced persons. The main services provided 

by 17 (68%) organizations to 43 (78.2%) of internally displaced persons were provision of food, clothing and 

money, but these were provided on an ad hoc basis. Only 3 organizations (12%) included spiritual counseling and 

resolution of communal conflicts in their services.  

Durosaro and Ajiboye (2011) investigated the problems and coping strategies of internally displaced adolescents in 

Jos metropolis. The snowball sampling technique was used to select 200 respondents. A self-designed instrument 

was used to collect required information. The results showed that educational and emotional problems are most 

prominent among internally displaced adolescents. The emotional problems are characterized by memory of fearful 

events and nightmare. The major coping strategy employed by respondents is repression because they often avoid 

thinking about their present condition. Respondents were different in their problems and coping strategies on the 

basis of gender. On the other hand, they were similar in terms of their problems and coping strategies based on age 

and educational status. Based on the findings, it was alternative educational activities should be provided for 

internally displaced adolescents. Also, trauma counseling should be adequately and readily available for displaced 

adolescents. 

In 2013, Ogwo carried out a study to determine the role played by sex differences in the manifestation of aggression 

among the internally displaced male and female children. Participants (N=445) aged 10-15 years and drawn from 

two communities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, namely, Bassa and Igbirray. Aggression in children was measured by a 

19-item questionnaire developed by the researchers to test the hypothesis that there will be no statistically significant 

difference in the manifestation of aggression between internally displaced male children and their female 

counterparts. A 3-way between groups ANOVA was used to establish the differences. Results indicate that Nigerian 

children did not show significant difference in their manifestation of aggression based on gender. t=0.74, df=443, 

p=.46 The findings seem to suggest that armed conflict and its consequences, like internal displacement is a threat to 

children’s general well-being because of the disruption of the environment in which they are socialized.  

Oduwole and Fadeyi (2013) evaluated the state of internally displaced persons in Nigeria.  The study elicits its 

information gathering using an ethnographic approach, a semi-unstructured interview was purposefully conducted 

on some of the survivors of bomb attack on UN building at Abuja who are resident of Lagos, victims of displaced 

persons that experienced devastating floods that destroyed their homes and properties, relations of some of slain 

youth corps members that equally reside in Lagos were interviewed. The study heavily relies on authoritative and 

valid secondary sources of data – National dailies (Nigeria Tabloids), journals, articles etc. on the desk type of 

research. The major findings of the study revealed neglects on the part of the State apparatus (government) in 

ensuring better, effective and functional policies.  Its magnitude is capable of threatening national cohesion of the 

country and endangering high rate of internally displaced persons across the country. The study concludes that given 

the magnitude and complexity of crises of internal displacement, these are inimical toward the discourse 

“Development”. This affects the country from achieving Millennium Development Goals – goal number eight (8): 

rights to safety of lives and properties as equally enshrined in other international treaties – choices to healthy, 

creative life and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity and self-respect and the respect of others. 

Olukolajo et al (2014) examined the effects of crisis induced internal displacement of persons in Nigeria on real 

estate investment decision among the displaced. Samples of the displaced persons were drawn from Ekiti, Ogun, 

https://sites.tufts.edu/jha/archives/category/j-adele-bamgbose


 

 
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Ondo, and Oyo states in the South-Western zone of the country through snowballing process and data collected were 

analysed descriptively and inferentially. Findings indicate that 78.03% of respondents no longer consider it 

worthwhile, the investment/re-investment in the crisis zones for fear of losing their investment. The paper 

recommends among others that governments at all levels should intensify efforts towards curbing the menace of 

crisis in the country. This may be made possible through integration of local communities in providing security in 

their domains. 

In 2014, Okoli and Iortyer explored the humanitarian impact of terrorism in Nigeria from the standpoint of Boko 

Haram insurgency. By way of scholarly exegesis and empirical evidence, predicated on secondary sources, the paper 

posits that the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in dire humanitarian situation as evident in human casualties, 

human right abuses, population displacement and refugee debacle, livelihood crisis, and public insecurity. The paper 

submits that this scenario portends negatively for the sustenance of national security in Nigeria. The paper 

recommends a strategic paradigm shift from anti-terrorism to counter-terrorism as a strategy for containing the 

crisis. Mirth (2014) adopted a mixed method to source for data in the analysis of the experiences of internally 

displaced persons in Bama and GwozaDurumi, Abuja, Nigeria. Primary data was collected through qualitative 

interviews that gave an indepth narrative on ground situation from the minds of interviewees. The secondary source 

of data was also used for this research that consisted of academic publications, research papers and policy 

documents. From the empirical fieldwork, it was concluded that the IDPs in Abuja Area one Durunmi camps are not 

faced with the absence of the state policy, but rather, by the irresponsive state; the state that withholds its assistance 

deliberately because it wants the IDPs moved away to another place. That is, the IDPs are faced by “the politics of 

policy application.” The government pays little or no attention to this group of people and their plight. Measures 

taken to address the deplorable conditions in which they live are very, very inadequate, if any.  

In his paper, Isokon (2014) examined displacement status and welfare of Bakassi settlers in Cross River State 

against the backdrop of the 1980 UN policy on resettlement programmes and its implications for resettlement 

planning as well as success of a resettlement scheme. The study is predicated on the apriori that the state of Bakassi 

settlers is akin to status depreciation, impoverishment, loss of sources of livelihood, stigmatization, discrimination, 

inhuman treatment and infringement of fundamental human rights. In the light of these observations, it is suggested 

among others that vigorous education campaigns should be carried out among settlers and neigbouring communities 

around the resettlement area. The campaigns should emphasize attitudinal change, accommodation, cooperation, 

peace and unity amongst the settlers and the neigbouring communities. The study also suggests that government 

should take a strategic sustainable development approach to address the challenges confronting displaced persons, 

including economic empowerment, provision of employment opportunities, infrastructural development and ensure 

functional participation of settlers in the decision making framework, planning and operations of the resettlement. 

Amadi and Mac Ogonor (2015) examined climate change, environmental security and displacement in Nigera. It 

deployed a participatory methodology through focused group discussion (FGDs), questionnaires and oral interview 

guide as primary data sources. The sampling technique was largely purposive due  in part to the sensitivity of the 

issues investigated. Two open-ended questionnaires were used to elicit two types of information on coastal flood, 

environmental security and displacement within the purposively selected areas of study namely: Bayelsa, Delta and 

Rivers States. The findings suggested that the 2012 flooding negatively affected the region with evidence of 

displacement, out migration, impoverishment, food production decline, etc. The paper made some policy 

recommendations on mitigation of climate change vulnerability. 

Ajiboye et al (2015) investigated the psychosocial challenges that confront disaster-induced internally displaced 

women in official camps in Lagos State. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The 

purposive sampling technique was used to select 200 respondents. A well-structured questionnaire titled, 

“Psychosocial Challenges of Disaster-induced Internally Displaced Women Questionnaire” (PCDIDWQ) was used 

for gathering data for the study. The findings revealed that family disintegration is the major psychosocial challenge 

of disaster-induced internally displaced women. It was equally revealed that there were no significant differences in 

the psychosocial challenges of respondents based on marriage type and number of children. Based on the findings of 

the study it was recommended that professional counselors be actively involved in the provision of services such as 

trauma counseling, career counseling, and family counseling to disaster-induced internally displaced women.  

In an exposition on the growing challenge of internal population displacement in Nigeria sincethe birth of the Fourth 

Republic, Adesote and Peters  (2015)  interrogated the challenge of various cases of violence on internal population 

displacement during three successive administrations of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Late Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua and 

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. It argues that the major cause of this great human tragedy which has not only led to the 

disruption of human lives and property but also constituted a major threat to national peace and security is violence. 

The paper contends that the root causes of violence which could be ethno-religious, inter-ethnic, political and inter-



 

 
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communal are hinged on a decade of poor governance, underdevelopment of peripheral areas populated by ethnic 

minorities, mismanagement of identity conflicts, chronic abuse of power resulting in egregious violations of human 

rights, gross inequities in the shaping and sharing of power, national wealth and so on. It concludes that there is need 

for adequate management of various conflicts, ensuring equitable resource allocation, the practice of true federalism, 

the promotion of good governance, and national security. 

Ibeanu (2015) in his work titled ‘Between Refuge and Rights: Internally Displaced Persons and Inclusive Electoral 

Process in Nigeria’ was of the view that some people expressed concerns about the introduction of IDP voting. 

Among their concerns was the possibility of abuse, if not in 2015, in the future. This is especially plausible if you do 

not have the right type of institutional checks. A second concern raised was whether what was introduced was really 

inclusive considering that it was limited to three states and hundreds of IDPs are scattered across the country. These 

are legitimate concerns, but we had to start somewhere. Not starting at all would have been a terrible travesty 

considering for instance that the total number of IDPs, who potentially could have been disenfranchised in Borno 

State, was 561,999. If you also consider that the total number of voters who were credited for the Presidential and 

National Assembly elections on 28th March in Borno State was 544, 75912, then you see the magnitude of potential 

disenfranchisement. The challenge however remains to continue to expand the walls of inclusiveness by ensuring 

that other IDPs and indeed other excluded groups are given the opportunity to exercise their fundamental democratic 

rights. 

The main objective of Isah’s study in 2015 was is to examine reproductive health challenges among internally 

displaced women in Abuja, Nigeria. The study utilized primary data which is design from questionnaires and focus 

on women aged (15-49). The study was conducted in Newkuchigoro IDPs camp. Primary data was used to collect 

via self-administered structured questionnaires to assess women reproductive health life in IDPs camp in Abuja, 

Nigeria. In the study, women married or not married aged (15-49) in the study area was considered as a source 

population and the required sample size was drawn from this population of 250 Questionnaires. Bradshaw (2004, 

p.31) mentions the psychological influence of natural disasters on women, the finding show majority of the sample 

population age groups of the respondents indicate that the majority are from age group 15-24 (35.3%) and 25-35 

(27%), respectively. It was recommended that government should make available, the highest attainable standard of 

health care services, which includes, access to Reproductive health care services within the camps or the area, 

antenatal care 

 Sheikh et al (2015) examined the correlates of depression among internally displaced persons after post-election 

violence in Kaduna, North Western Nigeria. Cross-sectional systematic random sampling was used to select 258 

adults IDPs. We used the Hopkins symptom checklist to diagnose probable depression, composite international 

diagnostic interview for diagnosis of definite depression and communal trauma event inventory to determine 

exposure to psycho-trauma.  They assessed social adjustment using social provision scale and Harvard trauma 

questionnaire to diagnose “symptomatic PTSD”. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine independent 

predictors of depression.  The conclusion was that IDPs living in Hajj camp in Kaduna, northern Nigeria developed 

post-conflict probable depression and definite depression. Female gender, experienced beating and comorbid 

diagnosis of PTSD were independent predictors of probable depression among the IDPs, while IDPs that were 

unemployed or retired had more of definitive depression. 

In February 2008 a unique community library and information centre was established in Ikang - a rural area 

designated as a camp for persons displaced by the ceding of Bakassi, Ntui (2015) summarized and analyzed sources 

and trends of funds ensued to the centre and provided suggestions on ways of sustaining the funds. There has been a 

decline in frequency of funds ensued to the centre over the years and government funding has been precarious. The 

centre is tapping into all areas of private funding sources ranging from endowment, NGOs, donation, gifts to fund 

raising activities. The latter has have become a mainstay in the budget mix of the centre. Through these integrated 

creative approach the centre has been able to provide superior services to its community of users 

Emmanuelar (2015) set out to analyse the impact of Boko Haram insurgency on humanitarian crises in Northern 

Nigeria with Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in focus. It further establishes how the increase in the activities of 

Boko Haram, continues to generate dire humanitarian consequences to the North East region, the Nigerian society 

and neighbouring nations at large. This paper adopted the State Fragility theoretical framework as well as the survey 

method involving the use of questionnaires (the regression technique) and in-depth interview (index matrix and table 

technique) which focuses on three internally displaced Camps in the region for analysis. The empirical findings 

indicate that, there is a significant relationship between Boko Haram insurgency and humanitarian crises, when 

variables such as impact on human casualties (IHC), food insecurity (FI) and internally displaced persons (IDP’s) 

are held constant, while no significant relationship exists when the variables such as loss of livelihood (LoL) and 

government response(GR) are held constant. By way of recommendation, the paper advocates the need for the 

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Nigerian government to focus more on reducing human casualties, loss of livelihood, food insecurity and more focus 

on the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons back to the society, in order to nip the threats emanating from 

the humanitarian crises and Boko Haram insurgency in the bud in the region. 

In examining the inclusion, teachers, curriculum and education policy in managing multicultural education 

programmes for rehabilitating Boko Haram internally displaced persons in refugee camps of North Eastern 

Nigeria,Badau and Ndagana (2016) found among others that most of the children of Boko Haram internally 

displaced persons had no inclusion in multicultural education programmes, teachers were not provided for 

multicultural education programmes, curriculum was not supported and education policy was not coordinated by 

Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs),international and donor agencies for rehabilitating Boko 

Haram internally displaced persons in refugee Camps of North Eastern Nigeria. Recommendations of the study, 

among others included that Federal, State and local governments, NGOS, donor and international agencies should 

make multicultural education programmes inclusive for rehabilitating Boko Haram internally displaced persons in 

refugee camps of North Eastern Nigeria. 

Adamu and Rasheed (2016) examined the insecurity situation in the Northern Nigeria and its effects on the IDPs.  It 

is evident from the beginning of the paper that insecurity situation in contemporary Nigeria has forced large number 

of Nigerians to be vulnerable and susceptible to all forms of exploitation, abuse, neglect and many rendered 

homeless in the northern part of the country. The current figure or number of the IDPs camps across the country 

shows that the federal, states, local governments and the host communities are all suffering from the effect of 

insecurity in the north. As recommended in the paper, there is need for intelligence gathering and surveillance so 

that law enforcement agents could be proactive and reasonably predict potential crime with near perfect accuracy 

rather than being reactive. 

Eweka and Olusegun (2016) comparatively interrogated the management of internal displacement in Africa with 

focus on Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon. The study adopted the quantitative research design, employs survey 

method for data collection, and simple percentage as well as content analyses techniques for data analysis. With 

much focus on (dis)similarities in managerial stakeholders and their number, challenges, and degree of success 

recorded by both countries, it is summed that no one country is more successful than the other in IDPs management, 

rather both countries have a lot to learn from each other, and there is an urgent need to improve on the management 

of IDPs in both countries. 

5. Limitations of the Existing Literature 

The empirical literature review shows that studies conducted in Nigeria on internally displacement covered among 

others issues such: causes and factors which induce internal displacement, internal intervention for IDPs, 

Psychosocial challenges of IDPs, provision of education for IDPs,inclusive electoral process for IDPs in Nigeria. 

However, no study has been conducted to analyze how the arrival of displaced individuals affects the provisionof 

public goods of local residents. This unexplored impact may have important implications for the welfare of 

receiving locations given the large magnitude of displacement experienced in some parts of Nigeria.Studies have 

also not been conducted to examine how those displaced are affected in terms of employment and welfare losses. 

5.1. Suggested Areas for Further Research 

-Analyzing the impact that internal displacement has on host (destination) communities  

-Development-induced displacement 

-Challenges of rehabilitation of IDPs 

6. Concluding Remark 

Internally displaced persons have suddenly become a socio-economic problem which has thrown a lot of 

humanitarian challenge for our collective humanity. There is need for researchers to develop research problems that 

are grounded in the perspectives and experiences of people affected by displacement and whose findings remain 

relevant to policy. In other words, they must identify not only the right solutions but also the right questions that will 

put an end to internal displacement in Nigeria and the rest of the world. 

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