Victimisation by Policy Exclusion: The Case of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper discusses the victimisation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria by policy exclusion. It asserts that while in policy, Government bears the primary responsibility for the protection and assistance of all IDPs irrespective of the cause of displacement, in practice, humanitarian response plans for the protection and assistance of IDPs exclude victims of armed Fulani herdsmen conflicts from assistance. It also found that several proposed federal bills to address the armed Fulani herdsmen-farmer conflicts have focused on securing land from victimised farming communities to establish settlements for the Fulani herders. However, none of the bills has prohibited arbitrary displacement; return, resettlement or rehabilitation of persons displaced by the armed Fulani herdsmen. The paper concludes that the exclusion of victims of the armed Fulani herdsmen conflict from national humanitarian response plan is a strategy of Government that is unwilling to recognise and address the armed Fulani herdsmen as a national security challenge. It recommends that the Nigerian Government holistically addresses internal displacement and provide equal protection and assistance to all victims of displacement as stipulated by the Nigerian national policy on internal displacement.