Insurgency, IDPs and Public Heath Implications

Conflicts are considered a major barrier to social, political and quality health services in Africa; between 2000 to 2017, the number of internally displaced persons rose by over 10 million (Martin, 2018). At least about two-thirds of the countries in Africa have experienced conflict leading to the displacement of millions of people (Burke et al., 2019). As stated in the report of the Geneva based internally displacement Monitoring Centre, approximately 33.3 million displaced persons are found in Africa. In Nigeria, the insurgents activities of Boko Haram militants and the perennial Niger Delta conflicts in the last one decade have displaced millions of people from their homes. This is not isolated from the protracted intercommunal clashes resulting from combinations of ethno-religious and boundary disputes in the North central and North Eastern part of Nigeria respectively (Oshaghae and Suberu, 2005). Notwithstanding, the increasing strains between Fulani herdsmen and farmers have also resulted in over 700,000 displacements from the middle belt of Nigeria (NRC, 2016). The Nigerian government appears to be having a very difficult time confronting persistent security issues, thereby leading to an increasing number of internally displaced persons in the country. The intensity of these conflicts has further tugs on the gloomy picture of violent conflicts in Nigeria and their implication for the growing concern of health status of refugee and internal displacement in Nigeria.