Faith-based organizations` intervention for the internally displaced persons from the northeast Nigeria`s region at Uhogua camp in Edo State

Abstract

ABSTRACT The escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region of Nigeria since 2009 has led to the death of thousands of people and left over 4 million displaced. Internally displaced persons were resettled by the Nigerian authorities in 22 IDPs camps in Borno and other states in the Northeast region and Abuja. Many of them were resettled in host communities with relatives, friends and also in informal IDP camps. What remains to be investigated is the International Christian Centre for Missions` intervention for the resettlement of the IDPs from the Northeast region at Uhogua in Edo State. This paper argues that the church`s intervention was primarily to offer adequate protection to the IDPs from the minority Christian communities in the Northeast states, whose homes were devastated by Boko Haram. This paper investigates the Church`s intervention being the only faith-based organization that is offering humanitarian assistance to IDP from the Northeast region at its camp in Edo State. It investigates the following: who initiated the idea and established the connections for the Church`s intervention? Who identified and moved the IDPs from the Northeast to the camp? What is the nature of ICCM`s intervention and challenges faced by the church?