By Justina Auta
Two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have urged the government to support and prioritise the reintegration of victims of insurgency into society to enable them rebuild their lives with dignity.
Mrs Elizabeth Duile, Co-founder, Civitas Auxilium Foundation (CAF), and Dr Segun Showunmi, Convener of The Alternative, made the call during an outreach to mark the 2026 International Women’s Day (IWD) at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp on Monday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the outreach was jointly organised by CAF, Junior Chamber International (JCI) and The Alternative.
The initiative is under the “Project REACH” programme, a community-based intervention designed to promote dignity, resilience and empowerment among displaced women and families.
Showunmi noted that while government’s efforts to combat insurgency are important, equal attention should be given to support those who have survived the crisis.
He said, “It is okay for the government to struggle with keeping down insurgency, but what is more important is to ensure that those who are alive are integrated back to society very well.
“No society should accept the idea that because people have had to deal with the calamity of insurgency, which may have killed some of their people and displaced them from their homes, they must continue to live under very difficult conditions for too long.”
Showunmi said many of the challenges faced by the displaced community could be addressed quickly with government intervention.
“They have no public toilet and water. Does it even make sense that we should allow more than 7,000 people to live in a place without figuring out even temporary facilities?
“Obviously, they also lack skills and livelihood opportunities. Should we not use our intervention programmes to support them?” he asked.
Showunmi, while commending the Federal Government’s efforts in addressing insecurity, urged the authorities to focus also on rehabilitation and reintegration as it does military operations.
“I commend the effort they are putting into containing this very difficult situation Nigeria is contending with.
“However, I do not want them to be too excited about buying guns and rockets and shooting insurgents.
“I want them to put just as much effort into reintegrating people back into their society,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to the FCT Minister, the Borno State Government and the Federal Government to provide support for the vulnerable residents.
Showunmi also commended the resilience of the displaced persons, expressing hope that Nigeria would eventually overcome insurgency and allow affected communities to rebuild their lives.
Also speaking, Duile noted that the interventions, including training, skills acquisition and health services, were provided to promote dignity, resilience and empowerment among displaced women and families.
According to her, over 250 women, including men and youths, benefitted from the livelihood skills training and empowerment support, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) advocacy and education, free medical screening and drug disbursement.
She added that the skills acquisition programme was intended to provide the women with means of livelihood to make them self-reliant and employers of labour.
She said, “So in Wasa IDP camp, they have houses that they live in but no water and toilets in it, so they do a lot of open defecation.
“So part of what we are doing here is to teach them how to have basic hygiene skills, and we are advocating to the government to provide basic needs like water.
“Also, the existing Primary Healthcare Centre in this camp should be reopened and medications should be resupplied.
“They should have at least, even if it is a community health extension worker, posted here to take care of basic ailments and have access to healthcare services.”
According to her, the recent attack in Gwoza has also discouraged them from returning to their communities in spite of government calls for them to return and rebuild their villages.
Dr Gladys Alex of Maitama District Hospital stressed the need for urgent government intervention to reduce incidences of health-related complications and cases of malnourishment faced by women and children in the camp.
“Most of the cases here have to do with hygiene, considering their environment, and then, of course, hunger, especially the children, who are mostly malnourished.
“We have also seen a lot of communicable diseases amongst them,” she said.
Meanwhile, some of the beneficiaries expressed appreciation to the organisations for the skills acquisition exercise, empowerment starter packs and free medical checks and drugs.
Mary Ibrahim said her family had to leave Gwoza in Borno State due to insecurity, so she had to drop out of school, but with the skills acquisition exercise, she will be able to provide some basic needs for her family and someday return to school.
Similarly, Aisha Abdullahi, a mother of five, said the initiative has enabled her children to be screened and administered free medication for ailments diagnosed. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Folasade Akpan
