The Implications Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Internally Displaced Persons In The Northeast Of Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has witnessed several COVID-19 variants since the onset of the pandemic in 2019. The first three cases of the latest variant called “Omicron” were confirmed on the 1st of December, 2021 from three passengers arriving from South Africa in Nigeria (PLAC, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic at the onset started in China, Wuhan, in November 2019 and it spread to other countries in the world. Nigeria confirmed her first outbreak of the Pandemic on the 27th of February, 2020 when an Italian citizen in Lagos tested positive for the virus (UNDP, 2020; Tijjani and Ma, 2020). Globally, as of January 4th, 2022, around 290, 959, 019 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed by WHO (2022), including 5,446,753 deaths. This has not only affected economic activities across the world but has also led to an increase in the poverty rate and hunger among many others. Nigeria is categorized as one of the 13 high-risk African countries concerning the spread of COVID-19 and Nigeria is also among the vulnerable African nations, given the weak state of the healthcare system (WHO, 2020). In Nigeria, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to deepen the humanitarian crises in the north eastern region which has been besieged with the escalation of various forms of insecurities, and the density and conditions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and many other factors create a high risk for the rapid spread of the pandemic. Countries, therefore, need to strengthen the resilience of their health system and prevention programs as well as address and eradicate conflict and other forms of violence, and insurgency activities among others which are seen as a setback to attaining sustainable development goals (UN SDG Report, 2020). It is against this background that this paper seeks to examine how COVID-19 has affected individuals in the North East region bearing in scope also Internally displaced persons and how the pandemic has affected their health and welfare. This is important in a region with enduring humanitarian concerns, to uphold peace, human welfare, well-being, justice, and equality. In doing this, the paper is divided into six sections. The first among them gives an introduction to the work. The second focuses on conceptual clarifications. The third section examines the COVID-19 situation in the Northeast region and conditions of Internally Displaced Persons. The fourth section reviews and integrates secondary data, to analyze the implications and effects of COVID-19 on IDPs in Northeast Nigeria. The fifth section provides measures taken to protect individuals against the COVID-19 pandemic and provides some thoughts on the subject matter, while section six concludes the paper.