Allegations of widespread rape and sexual exploitation of women and girls in Internally Displaced Persons’ Camps in the North-East zone are a worrying development that has compounded the ordeal of the victims still struggling to overcome the trauma of Boko Haram’s mindless onslaught that forced them to flee their homes. The allegations, contained in a newly-released Human Rights Watch report, are an indictment of the Nigerian state that has failed to protect the most vulnerable segments of the society.
Chilling accounts of the victims contained in the report mirror the depth of depravity in a country where those in authority have no scruples about taking advantage of the vulnerable ones under their care. The same mentality defines the attitude towards the elderly whose pension is diverted with impunity or where money meant for fighting the insurgency threatening the country’s existence is brazenly shared without compunction. It is also why mosquito nets meant to save children’s lives are openly hawked in the streets. But it cannot be ignored that there is something essentially wrong with the psyche of a people always striving to better their fortunes from the misfortune of others.
The IDP victims, some of them orphans, having lost their parents in the course of the Boko Haram conflict, and others, barely in their teens, confronted early with vicissitudes of life, were either drugged before being sexually abused or were tricked into having sex based on false promises of marriage. The common denominator is that they were unashamedly left in the lurch whenever the unholy dalliances resulted in an unwanted pregnancy.
Yet another set of women was made to engage in sex in exchange for food in a most humiliating form of exploitation. It is the height of wickedness and corruption for officials to exploit the helplessness of women by demanding sex in exchange for materials donated freely by the government and international agencies for their welfare. The situation is worsened by the fact that the abusers are government officials – soldiers, police, civilians and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force.
It is a huge price to pay for a people, some of whom have lost everything in life. Some of them have witnessed their entire family wiped out before managing to escape from the captivity of the blood-thirsty Islamists. This is typified by the story of a teenage girl who was raped by somebody from Baga, her own village, who knew that she had been orphaned by the insurgency. “The man ran away from the camp when he heard I (was) delivered (of) a baby six months ago,” lamented the 16-year-old helpless mother, who wished she could as well die and be reunited with her mother.
Worse still, the situation has thrown up fresh crises, with reports of rising cases of sexually transmitted infections. The HRW report noted a sharp rise in cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, for which, out of shame, the patients were not even reporting for treatment. Some, in such situations, would rather prefer to continue to spread the disease, while a good number of others may not even be aware of their status. But with the provision of medical facilities and sound enlightenment programme, the extent of damage can actually be controlled.
The HRW report did not come as a complete surprise, given earlier reports accusing camp officials, both military and civilians, of diverting materials meant for the displaced people. Bags of branded rice meant for free distribution at the IDP camps were found on display – and being sold – in the open market. An incident in which soldiers and policemen were involved in an exchange of gunfire over who should exercise control over rice was also well reported. It actually took a public protest by the women in the camp to bring their plight to public notice. Yet, no report has been out of any form of punishment for officials involved in such acts of grand larceny, which is why more of such oddities would likely resurface in the future.
It is indeed heart-warming that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an urgent investigation into the matter. The humanitarian situation in the North-East should not be another avenue for scandals in the country, especially with Doctors Without Borders, an international medical organisation, saying that about 75, 000 children could die in the region in the next one year if needed funding did not arrive. The situation should rather be an opportunity for the world to empathise with Nigeria in the spirit of humanity, as is done elsewhere when events of monumentally catastrophic proportions occur. This is exactly the case in Syria and Iraq, where the Islamic State terrorists have spawned huge groups of refugees and IDPs.
Appropriately, personnel changes have been effected in the camps, with female security operatives now being deployed to take charge of the female sections. But the only thing that can be done to assuage the anger and frustrations of the victims of abuse is to ensure that those who perpetrated the atrocious acts are brought to book.
