Protecting Conflict-Induced Displacees in Northern Nigeria: Assessing the Compliance of the State with Article 9(2) of the Kampala Convention

Abstract

Conflicts have largely been recognised as a fundamental cause of internal displacement in Africa. In recent years, internal conflicts in several African countries, including Nigeria, have contributed to the rise in IDP situation across Africa. In Nigeria, the violence orchestrated by the Boko Haram group has led to the displacement of over a million persons. Motivated in part by the need to prevent conflict-induced displacement and protect conflict-induced displacees, African leaders, in 2009, adopted the African Union (AU) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (Kampala Convention). Article 7 of the Kampala Convention relates to conflict-induced displacement. As at 2015, 23 African states had ratified the Kampala Convention, including Nigeria. Although the Kampala Convention places an obligation on Nigeria to prevent arbitrary displacement of population by addressing the root causes of displacement, the Boko Haram insurgency has increasingly become a daunting problem to address. With the rise in the insurgency, the number of persons displaced as a result of the conflict situation has significantly risen. Article 5(1) of the Kampala Convention recognises the primary obligation of the state to protect internally displaced persons. Article 9(2) of the Kampala Convention sets out specifically the obligation of states in protecting and assisting IDPs when displacement occurs. In sub-paragraphs (a) to (m), the specific duties that states should carry out in protecting IDPs are explicitly provided. In this chapter, I argue that while Nigeria does not yet have legislation or policy on IDPs, it has an obligation to protect and assist IDPs in line with the provisions of the Kampala Convention. Against the backdrop of article 9(2) of the Kampala Convention, this paper assesses Nigeria’s compliance with the obligation to protect and assist persons displaced by the Boko Haram conflict in Northern Nigeria.