The Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to declare banditry a humanitarian emergency, saying such a move would pave the way for a coordinated response to the growing displacement crisis across Nigeria’s North-West.
The Programme Officer for Good Governance at Caritas Nigeria, Mr. Jude Akwo, made the appeal in Sokoto during a one-day Stakeholders’ Policy Dialogue and Research Dissemination Workshop on women, conflict and peace-building.
Akwo said an official declaration would attract stronger intervention from federal authorities and international humanitarian organisations, leading to the establishment of properly managed camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in communities affected by banditry and terrorism.
According to him, most IDP settlements in the North-West are informal and lack basic infrastructure, security and essential services, exposing displaced persons, particularly women and children, to further abuse.
“The IDP camps are not formal; they are informal settlements. There are cases of secondary abuse in these camps. Women are raped because the camps have no fences, while many displaced families are forced to live in makeshift shelters and uncompleted buildings,” he said.
Akwo urged governments in states worst affected by insecurity to acknowledge the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis created by banditry and terrorism.
“If governments believe they lack the resources to establish proper camps, they should first recognise that banditry and terrorism have created a humanitarian emergency.
“Once that is acknowledged, the type of coordinated humanitarian response implemented in the North-East can be replicated in the North-West. The response should be organised, strategic and sustainable,” he added.
He explained that the workshop was organised under Caritas Nigeria’s Good Governance Programme, which promotes peace-building, civic participation, citizen-government engagement and parliamentary liaison.
Akwo said the dialogue also served as a platform to present findings from a research project examining the experiences and contributions of women affected by armed conflict across states in the North-West.
According to him, the study sought to challenge the widespread perception of women solely as victims of conflict by highlighting the critical roles they continue to play in conflict response and community resilience.
“We wanted to move beyond the narrative of female victimhood. Our findings show that women have played significant roles in early warning and early response mechanisms. They have developed community-based strategies to respond to conflict and have cared for children and families whose relatives were kidnapped,” he said.
He noted that women in affected communities have also established support networks and community savings groups to assist victims of insecurity and, in some cases, raise funds to secure the release of kidnapped relatives.
“These women have built support networks that care for survivors. Through village savings and loan groups, they contribute resources to assist affected families and, in some cases, even raise money to pay ransoms,” Akwo said.
He stressed that recognising and strengthening such grassroots initiatives would enhance peace-building efforts and improve humanitarian responses in communities grappling with prolonged insecurity.