Food shortages in the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) have resulted to starvation, and acute malnutrition crisis.
This is a concern considering that IDPs are having the worst of this already coupled with hard times in the various camps scattered throughout the country.
The condition of living in these camps really leaves nothing to be desired, a development that seems not to have rattled the government and many Nigerians enough, calling to question whether or not our humanity has been lost.
IDP camps are not prisons neither are they detention camps, yet the conditions people experience there now are quite similar to those of detention camps, if not even worse.
This is especially true of IDP camps in the northern states of Nigeria since 2015, when the insurgency has escalated, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The massacres that happened in Baga, Bama and Gwoza contributed to the displacement of many Nigerians.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, recently disclosed that 26 million people across the Northern states were affected by the Boko Haram crises, 14 million of who are in the North East and eight and a half million out of these need immediate relief.
Many of these people in need of immediate relief are in camps, wallowing in hunger, diseases and psychological dislocation.
One of the major problems people in the IDP camps face is the lack of proper and adequate food with the resultant effects of stunting and recurrent infections or chronic diseases.
These effects are even worst for babies as poor nutrition in terms of foods and feeding behaviours, especially during the first two years of life can lead to low immunity, significant illness, late development and death.
The state governments, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) are in charge of the camps and necessary action needs to be taken.
Many of these people have lost their entire families- some do not even know if their fathers, mothers, sons and daughters are dead or still alive in some camp elsewhere.
NEMA is doing its best to supply water to the camps, but the question is if it is enough and for how long will this continue?
At Kuchingoro IDP camp in Abuja, some philanthropists have gone to great lengths to provide a good school for refugees. Apart from persons from Gwoza Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State who have been displaced by the insurgency, the camp has also provided refuge for people rendered homeless through clashes between by Fulani herdsmen and indigenous people of various areas in Kaduna and Nasarawa State.
The importance of education, especially to children who have faced trauma and loss and are facing other problems in the camps is of great importance too.
While the insurgency might have caused the displacements, it is up to the Nigerian government and the goodwill of the Nigerian people to ensure that the people in these camps are taking care of till they can find a home.
-Clara is of Mass Communication Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi.