Nigeria's armed conflict has displaced 2 million people and left 7 million in need of humanitarian aid in the four north-eastern states (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe). Violent communal clashes in the Middle Belt and urban violence in the Niger Delta states have made matters worse.
In 2015, the ICRC significantly scaled up its efforts to deliver such vital aid as food, water, shelter and firewood, provide medical care and restore contact between family members separated by the conflict.
Highlights
In 2015:
538,000
internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees received enough food for three months
387,000
IDPs received essential household items
360,000
IDPs and residents could obtain primary health care through 12 ICRC-supported primary health centres
176,000
people benefited from water, sanitation and hygiene services
57,000
people received cash and vouchers with which to buy food and other items
18,000
people received shelter assistance
10,400
casualties received pre-hospital treatment from ICRC-trained first-aid volunteers.
1,000
victims of mass casualty incidents received treatment at hospitals that the ICRC was providing with medical supplies
590
weapon-wounded patients received treatment from the ICRC surgical team in Maiduguri State Specialist Hospital.
Emergency aid
In cooperation with the Nigerian Red Cross Society, the ICRC distributed food to 538,000 IDPs, mainly in Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe states, but also in Plateau and Edo states.
387,000 IDPs received essential household items and 57,000 people received financial support (cash and vouchers).
The ICRC's assistance enabled people to survive the most difficult phase of the displacement process.
Livelihood support and micro-economic initiatives
21,000
people returning to their homes in Adamawa state received food, seed and fertilizer
31,000
people in Plateau and Kaduna states received fertilizer and/or vouchers for seed and fertilizer
The people who received this aid reported above-average harvests as a result.
1,400
widows in Maiduguri with young children received food vouchers that allowed them to buy enough food for six months. 50 of them also benefited from ICRC micro-economic initiatives to help them provide for their families.
We will be extending this programme to Damaturu, Gombe, Port Harcourt and Yola in 2016.
Water, shelter and sanitation
In host communities and camps affected by the armed violence, the ICRC is renovating or upgrading water points and sanitation facilities, building emergency shelters and providing tents.
176,000 people from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Edo, Kaduna, Plateau, Rivers and Yobe states benefited from ICRC water, sanitation and hygiene activities. The Nigerian Red Cross and the ICRC carried out hygiene promotion and cleaning work for 50,000 of them.
18,000 IDPs living in camps in Adamawa, Borno, Edo and Yobe received shelter or tents
2,500 people who had returned to Mubi (Adamawa) or had settled in Warsa Piti (Kaduna) built or rebuilt houses with ICRC support
39,000 residents of the Jos and Maiduguri areas were protected against cholera through the work of hygiene promotion teams and the chlorination of water points
296 latrines for IDPs were built or renovated in Adamawa, Borno, Edo, Kaduna, Kano and Yobe states
Health
The ICRC:
- supported 12 primary health care centres (PHCs) in Maiduguri, Biu, Dikwa, Yola and Mubi. Between them, these centres served 360,000 people (IDPs and their host communities);
- provided a surgical team at Maiduguri State Specialist Hospital, which operated on people wounded by weapons and on IDPs in need of emergency care;
- trained the staff of Nigerian hospitals in the treatment and management of people with weapon wounds.
The ICRC supported 12 PHCs, mainly in Borno and Adamawa states. We renovated buildings, delivered medical supplies and equipment and trained staff. Between them, these 12 PHCs served 360,000 people – IDPs and residents.
1,000 victims of mass casualty incidents received treatment at hospitals that the ICRC was providing with medical supplies.
590 people received treatment from the ICRC surgical team in Maiduguri State Specialist Hospital. Most had been injured by explosions or bullets.
10,400 wounded people received first aid and/or were evacuated by ICRC-trained first-aiders, mainly in the north-east but also in the Middle Belt and the Niger Delta states. We also ran first-aid courses for violence-prone communities and non-State armed groups across the Niger Delta states.
6,000 people including personnel from the NRCS, community members, military/police personnel and weapon bearers underwent training in first aid and emergency preparedness.
The ICRC launched a mental health and psychosocial support programme focusing mainly on IDPs. NRCS staff received training in basic psychosocial support and counselling skills, and provided psychosocial support to 700 IDPs at a camp in Yola.
Restoring family links
Hundreds of thousands of people have left home, often losing contact with their families. The ICRC and the NRCS are working together to help family members contact each other, reuniting them all over the Lake Chad region.
The Red Cross provided 2,760 free phone calls for people who had become separated from their families.
The ICRC and the NRCS received 1,660 requests to trace missing relatives.
International humanitarian law
Over 3,000 army personnel, including those deployed in the north-east, in the Middle Belt and in the Niger Delta states, increased their knowledge of IHL and international human rights law.
Thousands of people, including civilian authorities, community / religious leaders and people benefiting from ICRC services participated in sessions on the ICRC's operations and ways of working.
The ICRC worked with 30 academics and over 600 students from 22 Nigerian universities to enhance the teaching of IHL in Nigeria. The ICRC also worked with academics to carry out a survey in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states on applying the African Union Convention on Assistance for and Protection of IDPs (the Kampala Convention).
The ICRC continued to strengthen its relationship with the Economic Community of West African States. This included helping the ECOWAS Standby Force integrate IHL into its operational documents.
Detainees
The ICRC visited 13,000 detainees in military and police detention facilities and in prisons. Wherever needed, they benefited from improved access to clean water, sanitation or hygiene following ICRC repair work and assistance.
Support for the Nigerian Red Cross Society
The ICRC donated vehicles, materials and equipment, built and renovated branch buildings and trained volunteers in such skills as first aid and dead-body management, while ensuring they could conduct their duties more safely when responding to emergencies.
The ICRC in Nigeria
We operate in the north-east, the Middle Belt and Niger Delta states, with offices in Abuja, Damaturu, Gombe, Jos, Maiduguri, Mubi, Kano, Port Harcourt and Yola. This network of offices enables us to maintain close proximity to people affected by armed violence, to understand their needs and to respond appropriately.
