ICC Note: Boko Haram has been persecuting Christians and causing them to flee from their homes to live in IDP camps for the past few years. Now, the Nigerian government is telling Christians and various other IDP’s that they are safe to return back to their homes since Boko Haram is no longer a threat. However, Christians along with Western diplomats and aid workers do not agree, claiming that there is still a huge threat for these individuals in their rural communities.

09/06/2018 Nigeria (Christian Today) Displaced Christians in north east Nigeria have expressed fears about being told to go home to vote despite the continuing crisis caused by the operation of Islamist militia Boko Haram.

The insurgency has seen more than 20,000 people killed, more than 4,000 women and girls abducted and more than 2 million people forced to leave their homes. According to World Watch Monitor, thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) are facing pressure to return to their villages from government officials who claim it is now safe to do so. However, aid workers and Western diplomats have criticized the move and say it is geared towards the Nigerian elections, with the aim of having as many as possible return to vote in the parties’ primary rounds. These started in August, ahead of the presidential elections in February 2019.

Fr Maurice Kwairanga, in charge of St Theresa’s Church IDP Camp, in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, said the policy was political propaganda. He told World Watch Monitor: ‘The authorities want to show they are winning the war, though at local levels where people mostly live in remote areas, the situation is not safe enough. In some parts of Michika, Madagali, and Gwoza, there are still pockets of militants moving in small numbers – 15 to 20 insurgents carrying guns – but large enough to ransack a village of 500 inhabitants. Some IDPs in St Theresa come from southern Borno state, notably from Gwoza, which was the “capital” of Boko Haram.’

President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking a second term in office but has faced criticism for failing to end the Boko Haram insurgency or to control attacks by Fulani militants on Christians.

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