ICC Note: 

The plight of Boko Haram victims doesn’t’ seem to end.   They may escape the sword of the terrorist group  only to be forced to flee their homes and farms and starve.    Those who are held captive by Boko Haram then rescued or released find themselves in IDP with little to no medical care.  The women, rape victims, are now HIV carriers or AIDS patients on the brink of untimely but slow, painful death from the disease.  The plight of Boko Haram is just not direct and violence against Christians, but also the long term suffering of thousands of people who, if they have survived the immediate attack and cheated death, are met with more suffering of starvation and disease. 

12/9/2016 Nigeria  (World Watch Monitor) At least 5,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in 27 camps in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno State have HIV/AIDS, a local official has revealed.

Speaking to the media on Thursday (1 Dec.), Hassan Mustapha, the Coordinator on HIV/AIDS in Borno, said most of the patients were women who were rescued from captivity in Boko Haram camps.

More than 1,000 patients were identified in Bama camp and 3,000 in Gwoza camp, while over 1,000 others are living in host communities.

Some of those affected were not effectively accessing anti-retroviral therapy because of stigmatisation, Mustapha said.

“The IDPs living with such ailments are constantly challenged… Most of them are shy, while some are afraid to be identified by others as carriers. They sometimes complain to us that they are not allowed to go out of the camp to access drugs in other centres.