{"id":572,"date":"2020-09-01T14:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journalistsforchrist.org\/?p=572"},"modified":"2020-09-01T14:23:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T14:23:02","slug":"managing-internal-displacement-crisis-report-launched-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalistsforchrist.org\/index.php\/2020\/09\/01\/managing-internal-displacement-crisis-report-launched-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Internal Displacement Crisis report launched in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Journalists for Christ International Outreach a media-based organisation in Nigeria has launched a report on Managing Internal Displacement Crisis in the country with a call on the federal government and other stakeholders to protect the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media\nwas also urged to lead the advocacy for ensuring global best practices by the\ngovernment, oganisations and agencies involved in catering for the welfare of\ndisplaced persons in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npublication of the research report on making a case for IDPs through advocacy\nwas produced with the support of the World Association for Christian\nCommunication (WACC) and grant from Waldensaian Church\u2019s Otto Per Mille (OPM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The launch\nwas held in Nigeria\u2019s capital city, Abuja on August 20 at a ceremony attended\nby IDPs leaders, Non-Governmental Organisations, media, and others <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director of\nDaily Trust Foundation Abuja, Dr. Theophilus Abbah reviewed the report and a\nroundtable discussion was held on managing IDPs situation in the country and\nguarantee their rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbah\nlamented the lack of enough attention for displaced persons in the country by\nthe government and society despite their obvious plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout exaggerating, this research work effectively initiates us into an under-reported \u2018beat\u2019 or theme in the country. For a decade on, the country has been destabilized by terrorists, and with banditry and communal clashes, more and more Nigerians are removed from the comfort of their homes to temporary camps and abandoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201c In several North-Central States – Niger,\nKogi, Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa – not to talk of North-West states, millions\nof bonafide citizens of Nigeria are displaced. If journalists fail to tell the\nstories of these unfortunate Nigerians, politicians would forget them in their\n\u2018busy-doing-nothing\u2019 rigmarole in the name of State and political affairs,\u201d\nAbbah stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbah noted that the issues of IDPs are becoming commonplace that journalists seem not to see them and urged media houses to do more in looking closer into their plights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c When I\nwent to an IDP camp here in Abuja, the living condition was not good. This is\nAbuja for God\u2019s sake, it is not one remote place. The difference between where\nthey live and the neighbouring community is very clear. These people have no\nwater, they live in thatched houses and one would wonder if they are equally\nNigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUntil BBC, Aljazeera, CNN and other foreign organisations go to the IDP camp to shoot a documentary, they may not be well captured because we don\u2019t emphasise them. We pretend these things don\u2019t happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea is that if you are in an IDP camp you are in a safe zone; in a territory where the enemy should not come to attack you but in Nigeria, suicide bombers carry out their criminal act and go scot-free. Terrible things happen, we even hear that soldiers also do terrible things. They use those in IDP camps to farm for them and they work for soldiers without being paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are abuses on those people\u2019s rights and we need journalists to shout and bring an end to it. Some of these crimes have been reported in the media but the emphasis has not been laid on them. Ironically it is the culture of silence that have helped deepen the crimes against IDPs and the only way to overcome crime is by exposing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only\nway to deal with the evils in the IDP camps is actually by exposing it and this\nis what this report is encouraging us to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his recommendation,\nAbbah said, \u201cGovernment should guarantee journalists\u2019 freedom to report IDPs.\nIt is a constitutional right which must not be abridged in the name of\nproviding security for displaced persons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJournalists should pitch ideas on the situation in IDPs camps to their news organisations: hygiene, health, security, sanitation, the fate of persons living with a disability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Discussants at the launch of the report <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the roundtable discussion, two displaced persons from camps in Abuja took turns to narrate their challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\nleaders in the camp who identified himself as Enoch narrated the self-help\nefforts some of them have made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have set facilities in the IDP camp to be able to tell our stories. We have set up a school but we don\u2019t have enough teachers to teach the children. We also have a skill acquisition centre too for IDPs to acquire skills to live a better life when they return to their various homes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enoch, a\ngraduate of Statistics added that, \u201cWhenever I come to a place like this, I\nalways think about our plights. I always remember my dad that was killed by the\nterrorists. They killed him and there is nothing we can do, we only trust God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He, however, enjoined Nigerians especially journalists to support the IDPs with their expertise. \u201cI don\u2019t pray that everybody should end up in IDP camp but one day if we don\u2019t join our hands together to cooperate against the evil creating IDPs, it may happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nresident of the IDP camp who simply introduced himself as Gola from Adamawa,\nenjoined journalists to visit the IDP camps to investigate things that may not\neasily get to the public domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto him, \u201cThere are guys in the IDP camps with collaborators from outside are\nalready given to vices. The government may not know but if journalists would\nreport some of these things, chances are that the government would focus on the\nvices and intervene promptly before things get out of hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betty Abah,\nExecutive Director of Centre for Children\u2019s Health Education, Orientation and Protection\n(CEE-HOPE) urged journalists to look more into the plights of the IDPs\nespecially as it concerns female IDPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\ntreatment of IDPs in Nigeria is worrisome. As journalists we must continue to\nspeak truth to power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerned\nabout women and girls in the camps, Abah advised journalists to look into women\nissues and write more about them in order to draw the needed attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf women\nin their homes still have issues with getting sanitary pads to use, how much\nmore women in IDP camps? These are things journalists should report vigorously\nfor stakeholders to wade into the crisis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcoming\nparticipants earlier, President of Journalists For Christ International\nOutreach, Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin said, \u2018Managing Internal Displacement Crisis in\nNigeria\u2019 is a follow up on an earlier study on the media portrayal of\nInternally Displaced People in Africa. The monitoring covered Nigeria, Kenya\nand The Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otufodunrin\nwho was represented at the lunch said JFC was committed to advocating for the\nrights of displaced persons in the country and will use the research findings\nas a basis for collaborating with all stakeholders on what needs to be done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, Mr. Patrick Osadebamwen who applauded Journalists For Christ for a good job, urge journalists to leverage on the findings of the research work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c With a report like this, we can see how to intervene via our analysis and reports so we can draw more attention to better living condition for those who are still in the camp and possibly entry to a safer environment and places for those who may find opportunities to leave by virtue of the impact of our reportage that would attract NGOs that may be able to help out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Journalists for Christ International Outreach a media-based organisation in Nigeria has launched a report on Managing Internal Displacement Crisis in the country with a call on the federal government and other stakeholders to protect the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[154,102,136],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","tag-displacement","tag-idps","tag-nigeria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t