Millions of Nigerian children survived Boko Haram terror attacks which killed or displaced their parents and siblings but many of them continue to suffer from trauma many years after their experiences
Glory Ayuba was two years old when Boko Haram insurgents attacked her family's residence in the Gwoza area of Maiduguri, Borno State in 2014. The attack left her parents, siblings and many other members of the community dead.
The tot had managed to flee into the bush and followed other survivors days later through the forest until they arrived at a village in neighbouring Adamawa State.
She could not remember the name of the village but after about five months there, the group migrated over 1200 kilometres across the country to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp run by a group, Home for the Needy Foundation, in Uhogua, Edo State in the South-South region of Nigeria,
Little Glory's eyes became wet as she tried to narrate her experience to PREMIUM TIMES' reporter at the IDP camp on a Thursday evening in September. A caregiver quickly stopped the conversation and tried to pet her.
Now a 12-year-old JSS1 student of Uhogua Secondary School, Glory says she cries anytime she remembers that her parents and siblings are dead.
Rachael John, 15, has a similarly dark story. She also lost her mother during an attack in the Gava area of Borno State in 2014. The terrorists invaded her community, expelled the residents and burnt down their houses.
Little Rachael, six at the time, escaped into the bush and hid at the foot of a mountain with other survivors for almost one month until they considered it safe to leave the area. While they hid, she said they ate wild fruits and drank from a stream until they arrived at a small settlement in Taraba State.
"For almost one month we ate any fruit that we found around and drank from the stream in the bush till we got to a village in Taraba State," she narrates.
"Whenever I remember, I just cry and I won't be able to eat," she says.
Rachael stayed in the village in Taraba for five years before she joined other survivors to relocate to the IDP camp in Edo State.
Another resident of the camp, Musa Ali, a 13-year-old boy, remembers his father being shot beside him while they were running after terrorists invaded their community in the Romari area of Borno State in 2014.
"I was walking on the street with my father that day when we saw people running towards us. We joined them in running until I saw my father drop to the ground." A shot had hit his father and he died instantly.
The teenager still remembers seeing corpses all over the place as people kept running.
The experiences have left him traumatised.
But these are just a few of the many children who have become orphans as a result of violent terrorist attacks in Nigeria. Between 2011 and 2023, Boko Haram was responsible for thousands of deaths in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Nigeria is the country most affected by the terror attacks with states in the North-east region of the country being the worst-hit. Out of the six states in the region, Borno State recorded the highest number of deaths. Records showed that Boko Haram killed over 38,000 people in the state between 2011 and 2023.
Apart from those killed, many others were displaced. In June 2021, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mohamed Yahya, said in a statement that women and children made up 80 per cent of the displaced population in the North-east. He said the affected women had limited options for work and survival, including difficulties accessing resources.
Remembering the past
The coordinator of the IDPs in Uhogua, Solomon Folorunsho, told PREMIUM TIMES that it is normal for children to become emotional when they remember their past. He says this was often triggered whenever their basic needs such as food, clothes, toothpaste, underwear and sanitary pads could not be provided in the camp.
Mr Folorunsho says some of the children who just resumed school do not have educational materials. He says such children become emotional when they see their classmates using what they do not have access to.
"What they really need now is care, food and other things like soap to bathe, toothpaste, toothbrush, body cream, underwear, sanitary pads for the girls. They do not even have a towel to dry their body after bathing.
'When their needs are provided, it helps them to fully recover from the trauma. It is when they are going through one stress or the other that they usually remember their past."
The IDP camp coordinator appealed to the government, non-governmental organisations and philanthropists for support.
Traumatic experience
David Ayuba, who also migrated to the camp from Borno State, says she noticed that many children were always not happy because of their past experiences.
"Sometimes, some children will just scream from sleep. We started to see what we passed through during the attacks in our dreams, the trauma was high for us."
"They killed many people that day," he says.
Solution
To address the trauma, the management of the IDP camp says it engages the children in games and sporting activities such as football, volleyball and athletics.
When PREMIUM TIMES' reporter visited the camp on a Thursday evening, the children were seen playing different games. The boys were on the field playing football while the girls were playing volleyball.
Mr Folorunsho says sport is one of the therapy measures adopted in the IDP to help the children from depression.
Psychologist speaks
The Executive Director of The Sunshine Series, Aisha Bubah, says children who went through such experiences need to undergo therapy to get over the trauma. The Abuja-based non-governmental organisation, founded in 2020, helps individuals to access quality mental health support.
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"Children have the ability to build their resilience in dealing with trauma, as long as the right conditions are provided. Right conditions like access to basic needs like food, shelter, education, and safety. If these conditions are met, they will be able to overcome their trauma.
"And for children who still struggle under good living conditions, they will require therapy. There are therapy interventions used to help children deal with trauma, like Art therapy."
Mrs Bubah, who is a psychologist, urged the Nigerian government to collaborate with non-governmental organisations to provide facilities for children in the IDPs' camps.
"The government is trying, as I am sure you would have probably read about the interventions they have. However, more can be achieved if it leverages collaborations with the private sector and civil society to provide access to basic needs like food, education, shelter, etc.
"The government needs to intensify efforts to relocate children affected by conflict from IDPs to their homes. This will enable them to connect back with their roots and continue to have a support system."
The second part of the report will narrate how the children migrated to Benin City all the way from Borno State. Did they trek or were taken in vehicles? Who provided the vehicle? Who took them to the camp and how did they know of its existence? Watch out.
