Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Niger State, especially Christians, continue to suffer neglect and deprivation due to their inability to return to their abandoned homes.
In Gwada town, there are 3,502 IDPs, all Christians from Kaure Town in Shiroro Local Government, staying in two camps: Central Primary School IDP camp, which hosts 2,970, and Model Primary School, which accommodates 532. Their community, like others around, has consistently been attacked since 2015. Three years later, in 2018, after numerous deaths, the people fled and abandoned the community. Since then, they have been living as IDPs, unable to return because of the presence of bandits in their communities.
Niger State was once known as a peaceful area, rich in agricultural produce, but in 2013, it began witnessing acts of banditry, kidnapping, and attacks from armed herders. Its vast, ungoverned spaces became hideouts for insurgents who even took over communities and hoisted their flags there. The fact that it shares a border to the north with Zamfara State, a bandit-infested area, hasn’t helped matters. Communities were levied, and failure to pay resulted in those communities being attacked, their people killed, and others abducted.
On February 17, 2021, about 50 pupils were abducted from Government Science College, Kagara, Rafi LGA. The worst-affected local governments include Shiroro, Bosso, Mariga, Mashegu, and Rafi LGAs. This has resulted in thousands of displaced people from different communities being placed into formal and informal camps.